Karakura Wars
by Copper Moon
Summary: In Karakura Town there are two groups of people you don't want to get on the wrong side of. Two young high schoolers manage to get smack dab in the middle of them. High school AU, Renji/OC/Kensei, Shinji/OC/Gin
1. First Day of School

CM: Alright, so just to let you all know, this is a High School AU of Bleach. We were bored and wanted to try something new.

Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters of Bleach, only our two OCs.

**Chapter 1: First Day of School**

Shinji never imagined he would have to go back to high school. AGAIN. The first time had been when he'd attempted to recruit that Kurosaki kid. Not so much luck with that, but hey, you couldn't win em all. Now, however, he was going back for an entirely new set of reasons. And they all took form in the teenage girl who now walked beside him. His boss's newly adopted daughter.

He still wasn't fully sure why his boss decided to adopt her, or any kid for that matter. Didn't he have bigger things to think of? Even if he did want a child, a male would've been more suitable. Still... at least she was cute, albeit a bit odd.

"You excited about your first day?" He asked her, wanting to break the mundane silence that had been hovering between them since they departed for school.

"I suppose so." She didn't sound very excited. "Honestly, I don't know what to expect."

"Well, a lot of homework for one," he muttered, rubbing his already aching scalp with dread. "Sheesh, I'm getting too old for this."

"You don't look very old," she said blatantly, staring at him with grey eyes that reminded him of an overcast day.

"I may not look it but I am," he told her with a shrug. He thought her eyes were quite pretty...at least they would be if he was able to read anything from them. As he couldn't, he actually found himself hating those eyes. "Alright so if you're not excited then what do you think you'll have to do?"

"Not sure," she answered non-committaly. "It'll be school...it'll be different."

Shinji sighed. He was getting nothing out of this kid. What on earth did his boss see in such an unenthusiastic and strange girl? He supposed it didn't matter, he had to watch her and that was it.

They lapsed into another awkward silence that lasted until they reached the school building. Shinji was happy for the chance to have other things take her attention, but secretly expected nothing to.

"Well, we're here," he told her with a large grin. "Good luck getting to know everyone."

She looked around her, taking in everything in immediate view; the school building, the students wandering about or standing in groups chatting, the grounds. It was hard to tell what she was thinking, but at least she didn't seem displeased.

"Is this the first time you attended a school?" Shinji asked her curiously. He really didn't know anything about her other than up until recently she was a teen orphan.

She shook her head. "No…" For a moment it seemed as though she might elaborate on that, but then thought better of it.

Geez, it'd be nice if she at least had some bodily ticks to go off of. So far though he'd yet to see any of those either. He scratched his fingers through his flaxen hair. "Well, come on then. Let's go find our homeroom."

The girl smiled up at him. "Alright."

The pair entered the building and traveled down the hall, the girl looking at everything with the same blank expression. Eventually they made it to a room with a sign over the door saying 1-2. "Here we are," Shinji murmured opening the door and allowing her to enter first.

As she did so, a few of the students that were already inside looked up at her in wonder. Whispers quickly began to spread, mostly between the women but a few of the guys were too.

"Well, go find a seat and try to talk to someone," he told her giving her a light push into the room. "Try and make yourself one friend today."

She looked up at him and frowned a little. "You're not coming with me?"

His face split into a toothy grin. "Don't worry. I'll be around if you need me."

She stared at him for a few moments before glancing around the room. There was a small group of girls standing around talking. One had short, boy cut hair, another had really large breasts and orange hair. The third wore glasses and had dark red hair that curled up at the ends. There were also a few boys. Three were together, talking. Well, the really loud one was talking while the other two were listening. The orange haired boy didn't really look all that interested. Two other boys were sitting by themselves, one appeared foreign with his dark skin and scraggily dark hair, and large build. The other was a dark haired boy wearing glasses. As she stood inspecting him, he must have felt her gaze, because piercing blue eyes lifted to meet hers.

He looked at her for a few moments before he turned to face the front. She slowly walked forward into the room and sat down next to the glasses wearing boy. He didn't acknowledge that she'd sat beside him but kept facing the front. She watched him for a few minutes before the door near the front opened and an older man walked in.

He was in his mid to late 20's with long dark hair and a silver clip in his hair.

He was tall and had a serious look about him.

"All of you are to sit and remain silent," he stated dropping a large book on his desk and forcing everyone to look up at him. "We will be starting with the lesson now."

"Kuchiki sensei!" one of the girls piped up. She had black hair and wide midnight blue eyes. "I don't mean to interrupt but… we have a new student. Isn't it appropriate to allow them to introduce themselves first?"

The entire class stayed dead still, unsure of how the teacher would react. He picked up a clipboard with a sheet of names on it and glanced over it. "Mikoto Urahara," he said stiffly before his eyes settled on the new student. "Stand up and introduce yourself."

The girl with twin braids slowly stood up and turned to the class. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." She said with a smile and she bowed. "Please take care of me."

The class looked her over as she introduced herself and a stream of whispers broke out. "Urahara, does that mean she's related to that guy?" a few girls murmured to each other.

Mikoto noted that the boy with the orange locks was staring at her in an odd fashion...almost as if he was wary of her. The whisperings and giggles continued throughout the room until the instructor dropped the book on his desk once more.

"The introduction is over," he said firmly as his gunmetal grey eyes focused on the new girl for a moment. "Miss Urahara you may now take your seat. All of you, pull out your books and turn to chapter 1. We start, now."

A few groans left some of the students as they all pulled their books out of their bags and began flipping pages. Meanwhile the teacher had turned and began writing some numbers up on the board. Math class was just getting started.

Mikoto attempted to copy down all of the notes as the teacher began to explain the formulas written, but she soon found her interest drifting. She glanced around the room, seeing if there were any more interesting people she might have missed. At first no one really caught her eye, then she noticed something peculiar. In the farthest corner of the room was someone whom she hadn't noticed upon first entering. A girl… or perhaps a boy? They had very plain brown hair and dark eyes, and not so tan but not so pale skin.

How come she hadn't noticed this person before? Usually she noticed anyone and everyone in her vicinity. Just as the person's gaze met hers, she suddenly felt a sting as something hit her on the side of the head. She looked to see a piece of chalk bounce onto the floor. Then she looked to see the teacher staring right at her.

"Unless you have eyes in the back of your head, I suggest you face forward and pay attention," he said calmly.

Mikoto offered him a contrite smile and nodded. "Yes, sensei."

"Huh, well what do you know, the new kid noticed you," the strange person Mikoto had stared at thought to themselves. The person's eyes had been drawn to the new kid right away, mostly because of who'd been accompanying her but also because she was new. "So, Mikoto Urahara, let's see who you are."

The person's mouth tilted in the smallest almost imperceptible smile imaginable. Their name? Temara. That's all she'd ever give out.

It's not that she hated her last name or anything, but generally people forget you easier if the first name is all you know. Being forgettable is all she really wanted.

She watched the teacher rattle on about the different formulas, her face in a deadpan. Her eyes having no emotion behind the shoulder length locks of her brown hair. No one ever saw her.

In between taking notes and listening to the teacher's lecture, Temara observed the new girl. She looked like your typical high school female, with ridiculously long hair. She also wore glasses, giving off the impression of book worm; but of course that wasn't always true. Yeah… pretty typical. Though it was odd how unabashed she seemed at getting something thrown at her and then rebuked in front of the whole class.

She also didn't seem the shy type with the way she so forwardly addressed the class. Temara rubbed the inside of her teeth with her tongue. Seemed a one hour observation wouldn't cut it with this one.

She inwardly cursed when the new girl stole a quick glance back to her. It took a moment but she found her again. Temara diverted her gaze, waited then checked to see the new girl facing front again. She snickered inwardly. She learns fast. Any longer than that and Kuchiki-sensei would have tossed an eraser next.

When the class was over, the students all got up to leave and Temara with them. She paused, however, when she heard Kuchiki sensei order Mikoto to stay behind. Thinking it'd be a good chance to see what's what, she paused next to the open door and behind one of the large cupboards.

"Miss Urahara," she heard him begin as soon as the last student was gone. "I've heard a lot about you from your adoptive father. I will not have any issues with you in this class. The moment I get a complaint about you I will be dealing out punishment. Do you understand?"

"Of course, Kuchiki sensei," she heard Mikoto reply without any inflection. "I completely understand."

He looked her over for a few moments before waving her off. "Good."

At the end of the conversation, Temara silently slipped through the doorway and continued down the hall next to a group of students that happened to be passing. "So, she was Urahara sensei's daughter," she thought making a mental note to write that down when she got the chance. She had to wonder why a teacher who'd never before shown interest in having a child suddenly obtained one. The very notion made her more curious. She had to know more.

* * *

The rest of the day proceeded normally for Mikoto. She had to admit the teachers at this school were far more unusual than the other schools she'd been to. She was fairly certain her second period history teacher, Kyoraku sensei, had been hitting on her while introducing her to the class. Biology had been rather interesting, and Kurotsuchi seemed to absolutely love what he did. By far though, her favorite class had been literature. The teacher, Ukitake sensei, had been very smiling and genial towards her. He'd seemed very pleased to have her there, though she wondered how long that would last.

As she left class and headed for the lunchroom, she heard her name called out in the hallway.

"Mikoto!"

She turned, wondering who it could be. Other than Shinji, she didn't know anyone there. A male with dark, spiked hair and a scar over his left eye stopped in front of her, looking her over.

"I knew it! It is you."

Mikoto stared at him nonplussed. "Who are you?"

"It's me, Shuuhei Hisagi," he said, putting his hands to his chest. "We grew up in the same orphanage."

"Oh…" Mikoto said in sudden remembrance. Then without changing her expression she said. "I remember… you were the boy who was always crying."

His cheeks darkened and he coughed. "Yeah… well, believe me I've changed. What about you? You don't look like the violent little kid I remember."

She gave a slow shrug of her shoulders and smiled a little. "I guess I've changed too."

"So, I'm assuming that you've finally been adopted," he murmured looking her over. "You probably wouldn't be here if you hadn't been. You never really struck me as the studious type."

She shrugged in response and the two stared at each other for awhile. Shuhei was a bit awkward about it though.

"So, who'd you end up getting adopted by?"

"Some store owner named Kisuke Urahara," she answered calmly.

"Urahara...as in Urahara sensei?" he asked in surprise.

Mikoto nodded. "I was also perplexed, though honestly I question both his motives and his intentions."

Shuhei gave a nervous laugh. "You're kidding, right?" She stared at him wordlessly and he sweat dropped. "O-kay… well anyway, you're headed to lunch, right? Why don't we go together and the two of us can catch up?"

"Don't you have other friends?" She wasn't asking to be mean, but she couldn't figure why he would choose to spend time with her just because they were both from the same orphanage.

"Well, sure," he muttered with a shrug. "But… well, you're new and all so I figured… and it has been a long time…" the more he talked, the more flustered he seemed to become.

After a few moments, Mikoto smiled. "Alright, let's get lunch together." Shinji did after all tell her to make at least one friend. With this she would meet her quota.

"Great," he exclaimed wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her off towards the lunch room. When they arrived he introduced her to a few people all sitting around a table. Two were wearing the second year uniform like he was, one was wearing the first year, and the last was wearing the third year.

"Mikoto, these are my friends. Kira, Hinamori, the red head there is Renji (he's a first year) and whitey there is Hitsugaya (he's a third year). Guys, this is Mikoto, she's an old friend from that orphanage."

Hinamori and Kira both offered her warm and friendly greetings while the shorter one gave a small, 'humph' and glanced away.

"A fellow stray, huh?" The red head stated with a wide grin. He stretched out a tattooed arm, offering his hand for a shake. "Put er there."

"Don't be so crass, Renji," Hinamori lightly scolded.

"Indeed, I'm not sure calling a young lady a 'stray' is the best way to make a good first impression," Kira said in mild disapproval.

Renji flushed and was about to mutter an apology but Mikoto shook her head. "I don't mind. After all, until recently that's exactly what I was."

"What do you mean until recently?" Renji asked curiously.

"Turns out she was adopted by Urhara sensei," Shuuhei explained with a shrug. "Go figure right?"

"Wow, what's that like living with that guy?" Renji asked thoroughly intrigued.

"I believe he means, what sort of a father figure is he," Kira amended politely.

"He's interesting," she answered vaguely. "Maybe a little protective."

"Well, what parent isn't, right?" Hinamori said with a small laugh.

Mikoto wondered about that. Her eyes gave a quick sweep of the lunchroom before finding who they were looking for. Just like he promised, Shinji was nearby. She suspected he had been all day. Mikoto wasn't a hundred percent sure, but she wondered if her foster father had asked him to watch her, most likely to make sure she didn't cause any serious problems.

No surprise… considering how they had met…

* * *

A few months prior Mikoto had recently become orphaned again. She was becoming used to being unwanted. She supposed her 'bad habits' didn't exactly help, but she couldn't change who she was. At least she wasn't one of those psycho children who lit their homes on fire. Only problem was, that's exactly the type of child people thought she was. All because she knew how to control her thoughts and feelings, and that scared people.

Thankfully the orphanage she resided at gave her some leeway as to where she could go in her free time, but they were very strict about the curfew.

She had unique ways of spending her free time. Her latest interest was a shop she'd accidentally stumbled upon while wondering. It didn't look unusual on the outside, and if you didn't know about it, it'd be an easy thing to miss. On the inside, however, the selections were vast and eclectic. It soon became her new favorite place to browse… and sometimes more than that.

Occasionally she'd find something small that she really liked and would take it. Each time, the owner had realized she'd taken something and attempted to get it back by asking for it and then having the young girl, Ururu, search her. Each time they came up empty handed.

Then one day, Urahara paid special close attention to her as she entered and finally caught sight of her slipping a bit of odd looking jewelry into her mouth. As she began to leave, he stopped her. "Alright, now I want you to return what you took," he told her calmly. He kept the smile on his face but his demeanor made her feel like he wasn't pleased.

"I didn't take anything," she told him as easily as she did all the rest of the times. "Go ahead and search."

"Oh, I will," he stated calmly. Next thing she knew he slammed the heel of his palm into her gut. The force caused for her to lose her breath and the item she'd swallowed flew out of her mouth.

She coughed a few times, and her knees wobbled slightly from the force of the blow. She had not been prepared for that.

"Hm, that's a very interesting hiding place," he commented, bending down and picking the piece of jewelry back up. "Is this how you've been sneaking all of my items?"

Mikoto didn't say anything, didn't do anything to betray whether or not she had. Nothing to say she was sorry, or guilty, or even scared. She was very composed as she asked him, "Is there someplace you want me to sit while you call the police?"

At her question he actually let out a small chuckle. "I don't think that'll be necessary," he said reaching up and lightly rubbing the top of her head. "Run along home now."

Her eyes flickered a little in surprise, but a moment later she nodded and left the shop. She had found it odd the shop keeper hadn't chosen to have her arrested. Hadn't even asked for his things back. How queer.

"Sir, are you sure you just want to let her go?" his assistant Tessai asked as they watched her leave.

"Now whoever said anything about that?" Urahara replied with a sly smile.

After this encounter, he had taken it upon himself to go visit the orphanage she lived at. He spoke with the owners before having a long conversation with Mikoto. When they were finished she found herself being adopted and taken to the store owner's home.

She didn't question it and didn't argue, but she knew that something wasn't right. At the very least she was sure he had alternate reasons for wanting to adopt her.

Either way, she ended up spending the next two months at the new house until she was finally sent off to school.

To start her new life…

* * *

CM: So, that's chapter one. Let us know how we did! The number of reviews will help us decide whether our not to continue with this. Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Little Thief

**Chapter 2: Little Thief**

Not fair. It was just NOT FAIR. In the emptiest corner of the lunch room, Temara sat, inwardly sulking as she watched the new girl getting acquainted with some of the other students. It wouldn't have been so bad… if one of them hadn't been the guy she'd been wanting to talk to since middle school.

Renji Abarai. She'd known him since kindergarten, but he'd all but forgotten her existence. Just like everyone else. Just like she had wanted it. As she watched him reach out to Mikoto, with such an open and friendly smile, she felt her gut clench. She didn't know why she was getting so worked up. She preferred being invisible. Things were less complicated. Less messy. She was protected, and everyone else's dirty little secrets were hers to observe, listen in on, and sometimes even expose.

Yet… as she watched the new girl get settled in with her new group of friends, she wondered what that might be like. It had been so long since she'd had anything like that apart from…

"Good afternoon, Temara," an overly chipper, prepubescent voice greeted her. "I hope you're feeling well today."

Temara didn't bother turning to look at the new comer. She already knew who it was. He was the only person who could see her on a regular basis and would make it his business to say hi every day. Hanataro Yamada.

"Can't complain," she answered plainly. "Though, what did I tell you about talking to me in the open?"

"Not to," Hanataro sighed. "But you were looking so upset a moment ago."

Temara sighed. She'd gotten used to the kid as he'd been bugging her since the middle of her final year of middle school. At first she'd been worried that him randomly calling out to her would attract a lot of unwanted attention. Then she realized that he had about as much presence as she did. No one ever paid much attention to him unless it was to pick on him. Something she expressly avoided.

Still, she liked having the assurance that she wouldn't be noticed by making sure to have him only talk to her in more private areas, and definitely not outside of school.

"Believe me, I wasn't upset," she told him keeping her eyes trained on the group of chatting friends. He also had an uncanny knack for showing up whenever she was feeling a surge of actual emotion which really irritated her.

"Oh…" Hanataro appeared disappointed, likely because she was withholding from him. Moments later, though, his smile was back on. "Well, you know that if you were upset, and you wanted to talk about it, I'm here to listen."

"I know, Hana," she murmured, resting her hand on her chin. Even though she rarely acknowledged their friendship, she'd grown fond of calling him by that nickname. "You only remind me everyday."

"Sorry," he apologized meekly, staring down into his lap. "I just don't like seeing you look so unhappy."

"Just because I look unhappy, doesn't mean I am," Temara said looking over at him. "I'm just not a fan of smiling. You know that."

"Well, I hope one day that'll change, and you have a reason to smile every day" he said optimistically.

Temara shook her head. She doubted that would ever happen, mostly because she doubted she would ever allow that to happen. Smiling attracted attention. She looked over at the group again. All of them were smiling.

* * *

Lunch was rather uneventful for Mikoto. She sat and listened to the conversations going on around her but only really spoke when specifically asked to. There was really no reason for her to say anything after all. When it was over, the group departed accept for Renji who had the same class as her next. He decided to walk with her and tell her about the school.

When they reached their next class, most of her classmates from the other periods were already there; including, she noticed, the plain looking female.

In all the other class it'd taken her a few minutes into the lecture before she was finally able to locate her. This time, however, she'd actually looked for her right at the start.

"Hey, you should come sit with me and Ichigo," Renji said all of a sudden pointing towards the orange haired teen. "If you need anything just ask."

Mikoto smiled and nodded. "Alright."

She watched him go over and take a seat next to the one called Ichigo. She glanced around seeing if there was anyone else she knew of any particular interest. She found one. He was sitting next to the window. Jet black hair, very pale skin as if he rarely ever went outside, and bright green eyes. As she observed him, she suddenly sensed someone standing behind her.

"Well, well, if it isn't the little thief."

She slowly turned at the sound of the voice and looked up at a very tall man with short cut silver hair and a smile that made his eyes close. "I don't know what you mean," she stated calmly.

This only made his smile lengthen as he reached up and patted her head lightly. "Of course you don't," he chuckled before walking past her and heading for the front of the class. He turned, paused for a moment and then began to address everyone. "Alright, everyone take your seat so we can get started."

Mikoto slowly took a seat next to Renji who was whispering to Ichigo that the guy was rather creepy. She didn't see it like that, but was curious as to whether or not she'd seen his eyes slide open for a moment.

She did recognize the man, however, knew exactly where she'd seen him before. It had been at the super market, shortly after she'd been adopted. She had been grocery shopping for her new family. While shopping, Mikoto had come across a lucky cat keychain. She couldn't help herself. She never could. Whenever something caught her interest, she had to take it. Often she would even do it unconsciously and not realize it until hours later.

She had picked up the key chain and swallowed it. No sooner than she had, she heard a faint lilt of laughter. She glanced up to see a silver haired man watching her, smiling with what appeared to be amusement. She didn't show any signs of remorse or guilt. She simply turned and walked away as if nothing had happened. Because in her mind, nothing had.

Mikoto never would have expected meeting him again here at school, and having him as one of her teachers no less.

* * *

Temara stared at her desk for several minutes after the class began. She couldn't believe the guy was the English teacher. He'd been the only teacher on campus she hadn't been able to get anything on. Not for lack of trying of course. It was just...he was as much a people watcher as she was, which meant she was never invisible to him.

She'd caught his eyelids opening as he greeted the class and knew that those pale blue irises were pointed her way, for at least a moment. She would have been more surprised by it had he not done the same thing on three other occasions that same day.

For some reason she had a feeling that he was watching her specifically...normally it would have given her the creeps, but actually she was more intrigued by this prospect and wondered how much he knew, about her and the rest of the school.

Once she got over the initial chill of having him look at her she was able to relax and focus on the lecture.

* * *

Mikoto hadn't anticipated enjoying English so much. However, Ichimaru sensei turned out to be a rather fun and entertaining teacher. He seemed to enjoy drawing pictures on the chalk board to help emphasize whatever point he was trying to get across. And he wasn't bad at it either.

By the end of the class period, as people were packing up, a girl named Rukia was complaining that she was missing her Chappy Bunny eraser. Only two people in the class knew where it had disappeared to, but neither bothered to say anything.

As Mikoto was leaving -by herself because Renji and Ichigo were busy helping Rukia find her missing eraser- she caught the teacher watching her.

"I hope you enjoy your time here, little Koto," he stated kindly.

While she found the use of a nickname by a teacher to be odd, she remembered her manners and smiled back. "Thank you, Ichimaru sensei."

"Just try not to cause too much trouble, I may have to punish you," he added, his smile turning into a sly smirk.

"I'll try not to," she answered not admitting or denying anything.

After that Mikoto left with Ichimaru sensei gathering up his things before he too took off. Temara stayed behind though waiting for the group looking for the missing eraser to find, or not find it.

She'd seen the moment it went missing, but from her angle was unable to determine how or to where exactly it went. All she was sure of was that the new girl was the cause of it.

"Looks like I've got one very interesting person to look into," she thought finally getting to her feet as the group gave up their search.

As she got to her feet, she noticed that the pale faced, dark haired boy had glanced in her direction on his way out. It was only a momentary thing but she still heaved an inward sigh. There seemed to be a lot more people this year that were able to see her on a more constant basis. It was slightly unnerving.

* * *

Shinji had to admit, Mikoto was fitting in a lot better than he had anticipated. She actually managed to luck into a small group of friends. None of which he expected would put her in any harm or danger. There were a lot worse crowds around that school she could have fallen into.

They were definitely going to have to do something about that kleptomania of hers though. So far he'd seen her steal five random small objects. It was hard to tell if she herself was even aware of it. He also noticed how it was impossible to tell what it was she was thinking or feeling at any given moment.

Amazing how such a cute face could hide a potentially deviant mind. He watched her enter the Home Ec classroom, and after a few counts followed her in. When he spotted the teacher, his face split into a grin.

"How's it going, Kensei _sensei_?" he asked pleasantly as a student would to a teacher, only with a little more sass. Also he used the guy's first name, something you didn't do.

The teacher was a large beefy man who appeared to be more of a professional athlete than a teacher. His short silver hair was spiked and he had a golden ring pierced through his left eyebrow.

He didn't even respond as he got in close enough so only the blonde could hear. "Listen up good Hirako. You may be second in command, but in this classroom I am king," he whispered. "As long as you are here, you will call me Muguruma sensei. Use anything else and I'll make your life hell."

"You already do, Kensei sensei," Shinji replied with a cheeky grin.

If they hadn't been in a classroom filled with young students, the teacher probably would have throttled him at that moment.

He slowly got to the front of the class and turned to look at the student having composed himself. Then he pulled out a large knife and brandished it menacingly in front of all of them. "First thing's first," he said seriously. "This thing is NOT a toy. If I catch any of you treating it as such you will be gone."

Nobody dared to say anything or crack any jokes as he continued talking about was NOT allowed; playing with the stoves, misusing the utensils, initiating food fights, ect. While this was going on, Mikoto glanced around and noticed a few familiar faces; Renji, that mystery girl, and the quiet glasses boy. Shinji was also in the class with her.

"Now, I want each of you to look at the person next to you," the teacher instructed all of them.

Mikoto did so, and the person standing at the same work station as her was unfamiliar to her. He was very… there was no other word for it, pretty. He had straight cut, chin length, dark hair and he wore strange feather accessories around his right eye. His eyes were a lovely shade of violet grey which regarded her as if he was appraising jewelry.

"I hope you all like what you see," said the teacher, "because that person is going to be your work partner for the next few weeks."

Temara blinked a few times feeling rather irritated at the thought of having to work with someone. Slowly she looked to her left and saw that the person she was with was another person who'd been in her class for years.

"Let's just not fail," the female stated with a light laugh. Her short spiky dark hair shaking a little with her. "What's your name anyway?"

"Doesn't matter," Temara replied shortly. She was willing to work with the girl but she didn't want to be known again. "I'll do my part Tatsuki."

"Wait, how come you know my name? Aren't you new?" Tatsuki asked confused. She tried to get a better look of the girl's face but she refused to show it.

"He's talking."

Tatsuki was about to argue when she caught on to what was meant as the teacher began speaking again.

"Today we're going to start off with something simple," Kensei told them. "If you know how to boil water, there should be no reason for you to screw this up."

It turned out the first lesson was how to make pasta. While one person boiled the noodles. The other worked on making the sauce from scratch.

Mikoto turned to her partner, wondering if he had an idea of which job he wanted to do. He gave her another look over before smiling. "I suppose I'm lucky to have a partner who is more than bearable to look at."

The brown haired girl wasn't sure if that was meant to be a compliment or not. "I'm Mikoto."

He inclined his head. "A pleasure. I'm Yumichika Ayasagawa."

She nodded in acknowledgement before asking, "So, do you want to do the pasta or the sauce?"

The class period passed by without too many incidents, most of which were minor. Some of the students didn't know how to work a stove and ended up either undercooking or overcooking their pasta. In the end only one pair ended up with a perfect dish prepared by the bespectacled boy, Uryu Ishida… but most of it had been eaten by his partner, Renji.

"You don't eat your cooking until AFTER it's been graded," Kensei berated him.

As class was winding down and everyone was getting their stuff cleaned up and put away, Kensei called Shinji up to the front for a word. The blonde sauntered up with his usual toothy grin.

"What's up?"

Kensei's eyes shifted towards the middle area of the class where the new girl was helping her partner put away some things. "That her?"

Shinji gave a slow nod "Yep. Colorful, ain't she?"

The silver haired teacher frowned. "Hard to tell, really… though I could have sworn I saw her swallow one of the measuring spoons."

"What?" Shinji asked in surprise and confusion.

"I'm positive she swallowed it," Kensei answered looking back over to her. "Weird thing is, she looked as if she was trying to find it afterwards. I think she may have done it without realizing it."

"I knew you had a strange imagination, but don't you think this is going a bit far?" Shinji asked raising an eyebrow. "I mean you're accusing the boss's kid of stealing now."

"I know it sounds impossible but I'm telling you she swallowed it. I'd even say give her an X-ray to prove it."

"Right, because if there's any place to readily get an X-ray on short notice, it's a high school," Shinji remarked with a shake of his head. "Anyway, our job is to just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't land herself into any trouble."

"Good luck doing that around here," Kensei muttered darkly. "I've been seeing all kinds of shady characters popping up lately. He's getting bolder every day. If your job is making sure she steers clear of every threat in this school, you've got your work cut out for you."

After the final bell rang releasing the students from their classes, Temara slowly made her way outside following random groups of students until she was away from the building. Once she was far enough away, she grinned to herself and stretched a bit. It was tiring sitting through several hours of something like school without moving very much.

She was ticking off her fingers what else she had to do that day when she managed to make it home and opened the already unlocked front door. Stepping inside, she called out she was home closing the door behind her as she went.

"How was school?"

The question was soft despite the resounding baritone it came from. "It was fine," she answered with a shrug. "You know, same old same old. I stayed completely invisible for all of my classes though it did seem a lot more people were able to see me than normal. Including the really odd English teacher Ichimaru sensei."

She made her way to the direction of the voice and found her big brother in the kitchen. He was already starting on dinner, getting a pot out and filling it with water from the sink. He didn't look like the cooking type, with his large muscular build and messy brown hair which always hung in his face. In fact though, he was better at it than her.

"Maybe it's a good thing," he commented.

"How is that a good thing, Sado?" she asked a little pointedly. "I've spent the majority of my school life trying to stay invisible. Why would I want to be seen now?"

He didn't respond for a while as he set the pot onto the stove and lit the burner. She sat down at the table, watching as he got ingredients from the pantry and fridge and setting them nearby for ready use.

"I just thought it'd be nice if you made some friends."

"I don't need any friends, Sado," she murmured brushing her hair out of her eyes. "In fact, with the job I have it's best if I never do."

"What job?" he asked turning away from his cooking for a moment to look at her.

"Doesn't matter," she replied quickly looking down at the table. After a moment of silence she turned towards the exit. "I'm gonna go get some homework done. Let me know when dinner is ready."

She left the room without another word and Sado simply shook his head. He really worried about his twin sister and wished there was even just one person who would speak to her on a regular basis. If nothing else it may keep her from falling in with the wrong crowd.

After leaving the kitchen, Temara went up to her room and collapsed on her bed. She was tired of having her brother nag her about always wanting her to stop being invisible. He had no idea of course that now she couldn't turn it off...even if she wanted to.

She knew he was just being your typical big brother, looking out for his younger sister –by like, two minutes- but he needed to understand she'd already made up her mind about it, and it wasn't going to change.

After lying on her mattress for a few minutes, she rolled over and dug her homework out of her bag. No sense in falling behind. That would just attract unwanted attention.

* * *

The walk from school was more or less silent as Shinji escorted Mikoto home. He occasionally said a comment or asked a question, but nothing to stimulate a full conversation. When they got to the house/shop her adoptive father was waiting at the door in his usual attire of hat and clogs, hiding his expression behind the fan he always carried around.

"Welcome home, Mikoto," he said warmly to her.

She smiled and bowed. "I'm home, father." She turned to Shinji and offered him a slighter bow. "Thank you for walking me home." Then she walked past Urahara and went inside the house.

"So... any problems?" Urahara asked Shinji once they were alone.

"Eh, only a few complaints of things going missing," Shinji answered with a shrug. "And Kensei was sure she swallowed a measuring spoon. Other than that no problems at all. She even managed to get a small group of friends."

"I see, I'm so glad she was able to make some friends," the store owner gushed. "Any luck locating members of THAT group?"

"No, still no sign," Shinji answered with a sigh. "They're rather good and staying hidden. Just like us."

"Well, they're bound to slip up eventually. Just be ready for when that happens," Urahara murmured. Shinji nodded and the store owner's face suddenly went to that of an excited parent. "Well, time to ask my dear little girl how her first day went."

Shinji sighed as he left the door. He never would understand that man. Inside, Urahara was joining Mikoto, Jinta, and Ururu at their nice table where Tessai was serving up dinner. "So, did you have fun in your first day of school?" he asked her with a large smile.

"It was interesting," Mikoto said, not really revealing whether she had fun or not. "I met a boy there who went to the same orphanage as me."

"How nice. What a small world we live in." He snapped his fan shut. "Oh, by the way, Mikoto, before you get started on eating, may I have a private word?" Mikoto nodded before she stood up and followed him to the other room. After shutting the door so they had privacy, he turned to look at her. "Alright, you know the drill. Anything you have that doesn't belong to you I'd like you to hand over."

She stared at him wordlessly for a few moments, then she clenched her hand in a fist and hit herself in the diaphragm. She ended up regurgitating a wallet chain, an eraser, and that measuring spoon Shinji had mentioned. Mikoto was unabashed as she handed the items over to him.

This had become a routine of theirs since he adopted her. Every time she came home, she was forced to cough up –quite literally- anything she might have picked up while she was out. He never punished her for taking the items. He had very few rules, none of which were unreasonable or overly demanding. One of them, the most important one of all –as she had learned the hard way within the first few days of being there- was she wasn't allowed to lie to him.

"Is this all?" he asked looking her over closely.

She was silent for a few moments before she shook her head. "No," she answered softly. Then she slowly reached into the front of her shirt and pulled a few other random items out of her bra before placing them in his hand.

"Is this it?"

"Yes."

"Good, you can go eat now." She nodded and left the room. Once she was gone he began sorting through the few items into what he could easily return and what he thought he'd just let her keep.

After enjoying a wonderful dinner cooked by Tessai, Mikoto retired to her room to do homework. It was rather difficult, even with the help of her live-in tutor, Claude, because she had a hard time keeping her attention focused. Especially when it came to math. When bed time approached, the maid, Ririn came in with her freshly laundered nightgown, and after sending Claude away, assisted Mikoto in getting dressed for bed. Once that was done, Nova, the shy and quiet butler, came in with some tea and cookies to help relax her for bed.

Like many things in the Urahara household, Mikoto wasn't used to having people wait on her. She found she didn't mind it, but she could just as well do without it. She did find the trio to be interesting if nothing else, and they all seemed rather taken with her as well.

"It's so wonderful the master decided to adopt such a cute and charming young girl," Claude commented as the four sat around a small table they had set up in Mikoto's room for their personal tea time.

"You just like to look at her rack, you pervert," Ririn commented with a devilish smile.

"Th-that's not true!" he exclaimed. "I would never… not to the master's daughter!"

"The tea is delicious as always, Mr. Nova," Mikoto said with a smile, ignoring the other two. He blushed at her praise and bowed his head in humility. It really was a wonder how shy and innocent he was. "I still don't understand why though," she murmured, sipping some of the floral tea. "It doesn't make sense why Mr. Urahara would want to adopt me. It's only a matter of time before he'll want to get rid of me."

At least… that's what all her prior experiences with foster parents had been like.

Claude chuckled a little bit at this. "No, the master would never dream of such a thing," he told her reassuringly.

"He's right, the master never does anything without extensive forethought," Ririn added. "You don't have to worry. He's put up with a lot of troubled people before and has never gotten rid of them."

"You're safe," Nova added nervously.

Even with these extra reassurances, Mikoto wasn't ready to get her hopes up just yet. Still… she could enjoy it, while it lasted.

* * *

After Temara finished up the majority of her homework and polished off dinner with her brother, she went back to her room, gathered up some necessities, and snuck out her bedroom window. If nothing else, her brother respected her privacy, and once her door was shut for the night, he wouldn't intrude.

She'd just received a phone call shortly after returning to her room. It was a call for a job. With her hood pulled up on her jacket she was able to go through the dimmed streets without any trouble.

After about 20 minutes, she made it to her destination. It was a large place located in the redlight district called "Love's Paradise". She chuckled lightly to herself at the name before going inside.

"State your business," a large man ordered as she entered.

"I'm here to see Love," she answered calmly. "I got some stuff for him."

The man looked rather dubious about it, but he waved another one of the bouncers over before leaving to get 'the boss'. Temera stood idly by, doing what she did best; not sticking out. She observed the interior of the place; very posh and pristine, not like your usual places in this area. The décor was rather eclectic and the lighting was set to a warm dimness that helped to relax the mind. There was also a faint, pleasant aroma in the air, just present enough to make an impression, but not overpower the olfactory senses. Temara watched as the guests, male and female alike, were delighting in being waited on by their host or hostess.

She was tempted to try her luck and walk past the guard but paused in her decision as the other bouncer returned. "This way," he ordered leading the way inside. She silently followed him through the posh room towards the back where a door reading 'employees only' stood.

She managed to get a glimpse at the different people inside and was surprised to find a few she recognized...and not from the club.

When they reached the door, he opened it and stepped to the side allowing her entrance. Silently, she entered.

Behind the door was a single office that was large in itself encasing several file cabinets, bookshelves, and in the center a large oak wood desk. Seated at the desk was the man she came to see.

"Good you showed up," he murmured getting to his feet. "I was beginning to think you quit."

"Heh, come on, Love, I've got far too much information to do nothing with it," she answered simply. She watched him go over to a pair of chairs facing each other before gesturing towards the other. Her eyes strayed to the large dark afro on his head. "So, which High School students are you in need of background info on?" she asked pulling out a rather thick folder.

"Well, since you obviously came prepared, I'll narrow the field down for you." As always, the guy was straight down to business. "I'd like the profiles of any student who could pass as suspicious, exemplary, and/or out of the ordinary."

"Well then do I have a list for you," Temara said with a small smirk. "This semester's brought in a huge crop of weirdos. But before I share, I'd like to discuss price."

"Very well," Love said with an accommodating nod. "What are you considering?" While his tone was non-threatening, Temara knew it would be a huge mistake to overplay her hand.

"Nothing too expensive, let's say 5,000 yen per profile," she answered leaning back in her chair.

"Done," he replied easily. He could tell she was young so it was highly possible that she had no reason to make the price higher. He was sure that as soon as she was finished with school, however long that was, her asking price would go up. "So, show me what you have."

She pulled open her folder and separated out several different stacks of stapled together papers. "There's an entire class filled with the unusual," she told him laying out the one's that exemplified this. "Plus there are a few transfers into the higher grades."

He took the stack and began flipping through them. As always, he was impressed by the sheer amount of information he had on each person. Along with a basic bio, sat a picture that she'd somehow managed to snap without them knowing.

He took a few minutes to sift through the files, picking out the ones he wanted to keep and separating out those he didn't. Once that was done, he went to his desk and pressed a button. "I need 50,000 yen brought up to my office," he spoke into a microphone. "Make it quick."

Temara was a little surprised he hadn't selected more, but she wasn't about to complain or question his methods or preferences. Who knows? If she managed to find anything more interesting, he may reconsider some of them.

"So, you're taking on high schoolers now?" Temara asked conversationally.

"It's nothing new." It was really hard to discern his expression with those sunglasses on. "I'd appreciate it if you refrained from blackmailing any of my staff."

"I wasn't planning on it." She knew what he was getting at. Most high schools, including theirs, didn't approve of students having jobs. Students who broke that rule risked getting kicked out.

"Just out of curiosity, which students are you hiring? Are they any of the one's you've chosen?"

"I'm not answering that one kid," he told her firmly. "I may be trying out a few new ones tonight but I won't say who. Now when you get your money I want you to leave. This is no place for a kid who isn't working."

"That's the thing, Love, I am working," she murmured just softly enough where he wasn't sure if he'd heard her.

Moments later, there was a soft knock on the door and after being told to enter, one of the bouncers came in carrying a large briefcase. Love gestured for him to approach the desk and opened the briefcase on the top. Inside she saw all 50,000 yen in very well kept bills. Her lips curled up in a small smile as she got to her feet and transferred the many bills into the runner bag she'd used to carry the folder of profiles.

"Why not just take the case?" Love asked her.

"Please, this attracts too much attention," she answered easily as she finished it off. "If you still wish for my services you won't want me to be noticed by others." When she was finished, she adjusted the bag on her back and gave a small bow towards the afro man. "Well, I'll be taking my leave then, unless there's anything more you wish to ask of me."

He waved her away with his hand. "Go."

Temara offered a small bow before leaving out the door. One of the bouncers was there to escort her out.

"So young," said the bouncer who brought in the money as he watched her leave. "Are you sure he would approve of this?"

The afroed man shrugged. "I don't see why not, Hachi. In the end, it brings us new revenue, everything is kept low key, and no one gets hurt. As long as that's happening, it doesn't matter where I get my sources from."

"I suppose so…" But the big guy still couldn't help but worry for the girl.

* * *

CM: Yeah, so as you can see. things in this world are quite different. The shinigami are either students or teachers, Shinji and Kensei work for Urahara, and hey! Love owns a cub! And that's just the beginning.


	3. Green-eyed Stalker

**Chapter 3: Green-eyed Stalker**

It didn't take long for Mikoto to get fully settled into her new school. Everyday Shinji would walk her to and from school, but keep his distance during school hours. Every lunch period, Shuhei invited her to have lunch with him, Kira, Momo and Renji. It was hard to tell how her teachers felt about her. Some were already starting to show signs of concern, especially when things started to go missing. She was almost positive Kuchiki-sensei did not like her, and her grades in his class didn't help matters. And his class wasn't the only one she was doing poorly in.

One day, at the end of English class, as Mikoto was heading out the door with Renji and Ichigo, Ichimaru sensei momentarily stopped her.

"Mikoto, I'd like to see you in my office after school today." The 'don't be late' went unsaid.

She nodded in answer, murmuring a "yes, sensei" before leaving the room.

As she left, Renji caught up to her and looked from her to the professor. "Is everything alright, Mikoto?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes it's fine," she answered in her usual lack of emotion. "He simply wants to talk to me."

"Are you sure that's it?" he asked her again.

"That's what he said," she told him with a shrug. "I'm not worried. He's a teacher, what other reason would he have?"

Renji didn't answer that, but he wasn't fully convinced either. He like most of the other students felt the teacher was rather creepy when left alone with him.

"Well, if you have any problems, just let me know, alright?" He told her.

"I'm not sure you would be able to help me even if I did have problems with a teacher," Mikoto told him frankly.

"Well… maybe not," he mumbled rubbing the back of his head. "But I if anyone's giving you a hard time, just let me know. I'll put a stop to it."

"How?" she asked him.

"Well, if it's a teacher I can always file a complaint. And if it's another student, I'll just teach em a lesson," he said confidently.

Mikoto looked up at him. "Why would you go through the trouble?"

He appeared dumbfounded she would even ask. "Why? Cuz you're a friend."

Mikoto was silent for a few moments before smiling. "It's nice that you feel that way. Thank you."

Renji stopped in the middle of the hallway as he watched her walk away. "What kind of reaction was that?" he wondered blown away by her seeming lack of caring towards his worry. "Maybe I should just ask Shuuhei. There's obviously something up with that girl." With that thought in mind he followed after her towards their next class.

As he continued walking, he marched right past Temara who was leaning against the wall having listened to the whole thing. She was curious as to what Ichimaru sensei wanted to talk to the girl about but was sure it mostly had to do with school work. What really caught her attention though was the conversation afterwards between her and Renji. He'd willingly offered to be there to back her up if it ever came to that and she completely blew him off.

She was sure he'd caught on to the idea that the girl had some issues and suddenly wanted a chance to know exactly what those were. She had a sneaking suspicion that part of it had to do with her seeming spree of kleptomania around the school. Now, all she had to do was continue to find private conversations without being noticed. Considering who the person was though, she was worried that wouldn't be happening any time soon.

Still, at the very least she had the conversation with Ichimaru sensei later on in the day. Now, to figure out how to listen in without being noticed by the silver haired people watcher.

Mikoto knew that Renji was only trying to be friendly, and she did feel the churn of guilt building up when she caught sight of his affronted expression. She quickly squashed it down though by telling herself there was nothing to feel guilty for. She'd been through this routine before. People would start out being her friends, but once they found out what sort of person she was, they always left her.

The best thing for her to do was to conceal it and guard herself from getting attached. That way it wouldn't hurt later on when she lost it all.

* * *

Once PE was over she changed back into her uniform and made her way over to Ichimaru sensei's office.

"And where are you headed off to, Mikoto?" Shinji had managed to sneak up on her and was now walking in stride with her. Normally they went straight home after school since she didn't part take in any clubs.

"Ichimaru-sensei said he wanted to see me after school, so I'm going to his office," she explained. "You can wait at the school entrance for me. I don't think it will take too long."

"No I'll walk you there," he said not going anywhere. He didn't really trust that teacher...or anyone else at that school. "I'll wait for you to finish up as well."

"Are you going to be following me into the room as well?" she asked curiously.

"It's a private conversation so no, but I will be right outside when you finish up," he answered with a shrug.

"Okay," she replied with a smile. He returned it and the two fell silent as they went down the hall stopping in front of the teacher's office. "Be out in a minute." She quickly opened the door and slipped inside.

As she did so, Temara slid in through the doorway behind her and stayed near the door as she continued inside towards the desk of the teacher.

Shinji frowned, thinking he'd just seen something… or maybe someone go inside with his charge. If only they allowed swords at school… his hip felt so bare without one. He'd just have to keep his ear to the ground.

Mikoto approached the teacher's desk where her sensei sat working on some sort of needle and thread art. It was… rather peculiar, actually. So much so she had to pause and make sure that's exactly what she was seeing. She'd heard from many students he was an odd and eerie fellow, but she honestly didn't feel that way. Plus, it wasn't like she had any room to judge anyone else.

"Well now, that didn't take very long," the silver haired man said looking up at her with a smile. "I didn't expect you'd be here quite so soon."

"I thought it would be rude if I kept you waiting, sensei," Mikoto told him. She had to admit she was curious as to what sort of image he was working on with his needle craft, but that wasn't what she was there for. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, not at all," he assured her shaking his head. "I am simply concerned about your grade. Is the material too difficult to understand?"

"No," she answered feeling a small amount of relief that she wasn't in trouble. "It's not too difficult."

"Then might I ask why you seem to be having far too much trouble?" he asked curiously.

"I think I might be missing something but I'm not sure what," she answered calmly.

"I see...well in that case it may be advantageous to assign you a tutor," he suggested putting his needlework away and laced his fingers together in front of him.

"I'm not so sure," Mikoto said. "I kind of already have one."

His grin grew a little wider at this. "And we can see how well that's working out, can't we?" He paused before standing up from his desk. "I actually wasn't considering a professional. Merely someone from your class who's more than familiar with the material."

"I suppose that might work." If he honestly felt assigning her a tutor would help her, she wasn't about to object, despite how skeptical she was about its success. "Who were you considering?"

"Why, our little eavesdropper of course," he said with a chuckle before his gaze shifted to a corner of the room.

* * *

As soon as the bell rang, Temara found Mikoto and started following down the hall. She would have been surprised moments later when the girl was joined by Hirako Shinji had she not already seen the new guy seek her out every day after school. Unfortunately she also knew he tended to be one of the more observant people. If he caught onto her before she could get into that room she'd be out of luck.

Her luck must have been running high that day as she was able to travel down the hall without a single glance from him and when they reached the teacher's office, she waited for it to open before slipping in as quickly as she could behind Mikoto. Once inside, she ducked behind a bookshelf hoping it would keep her shielded from the annoying people watcher.

As soon as she was properly hidden, she glanced around her shield to see that the man was sewing at his desk. Who would've ever thought Ichimaru sensei could sew...it just wasn't something one would expect from him. She pulled her head back when she noticed him looking up from his sewing to address the new girl's entrance. Turned out the meeting was just because she wasn't doing well in class...not all that surprising. And she'd have to be stuck with a tutor...ha Temara couldn't help but feel like saying sucker to whoever got stuck with that job. Then she heard him stand and murmur to her he had someone perfect in mind. She waited with baited breath for the name of the sucker only for him to say the eavesdropper.

That statement shocked her so bad that hearing it caused her to bump into the bookshelf she was hiding behind knocking several books to the floor. "ME!" she thought in despair not wanting to come out despite knowing they knew she was there. "I CAN'T BE A TUTOR. ALL THE ATTENTION THAT WOULD BRING. I'D BE RUINED!"

A little before Mikoto had first entered the classroom, she'd had a feeling that she was being followed. When she had stepped through the door, she also had that sensation and had sworn she saw something duck out of sight just as she went to look for it. At first she'd suspected it was her paranoia, but now that the teacher had pointed it out, she knew for sure she hadn't been imaging things. The slight wiggling of the bookshelf via something being knocked up against it was more than enough confirmation as to where her shadower had taken refuge.

Mikoto wondered why someone would bother following her around. Were they planning on assassinating her? Or maybe they were in love with Ichimaru sensei? She started coming up with dozens of theories, many of which would be considered highly unlikely by anyone else.

"Why don't you come on out and properly introduce yourself, Little Mara?" The teacher called out pleasantly.

"Mara?" she thought wanting to demand why in the world he'd choose to give her a nickname. Still, there was no reason for her to stay hidden when she was already discovered. Grudgingly, she stepped out from behind the shelf and looked up at the two before her.

"There, now isn't that better?" Ichimaru sensei asked with his wide smile.

"Not really," Temara replied in a deadpan as she shoved her hands in her pockets.

"Well at any rate, Temara this is Mikoto, Mikoto this is Temara," he introduced placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "From today on, Little Mara will be your personal tutor. Make sure you two play nice."

Mikoto wasn't discomforted by the touch; rather she was intrigued that the person who'd been following her was the girl who lurked unseen in the back of several of her classes. She wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of having a stalker/eavesdropper/possible serial killer as a tutor, but she figured it was best not to complain. Ichimaru sensei didn't seem like the type to be swayed once he made a decision.

She offered a smile to the girl and bowed her head a little. "Nice to meet you. Please take care of me."

Temara scrutinized her for a few moments. It was a little infuriating how difficult it was to even begin to guess what Mikoto thought or felt about the situation. "Yeah, the pleasure's mine," she lied. While she wasn't totally creeped out by the teacher as most were, she had the urge to move out from under his hand.

"Now that that is settled I'm sure you both want to get home and prepare for your first tutoring session tomorrow," he said excitedly. "Don't worry, I'll contact your parents so they can assist as well."

"Heh, go ahead and try," Temara muttered under her breath. If he could contact her parents she'd believe he was some sort of wizard.

Mikoto simply replied with an "okay" before sliding out from under his hand and heading for the door. She took the comment to mean that she could leave so she didn't really think much of it. Temara was glad for the decision to leave and went with her ignoring the feeling of being watched as she headed for the door.

Once outside, Temara immediately began heading down the hall while Mikoto was met by a curious Shinji. "So, what was that about?" he asked, his eyes following the other girl down the hall.

"I've been assigned a tutor," she answered with a shrug. "It's that girl that doesn't stand out much."

Shinji thought about it for a moment. He did recall seeing a girl following Mikoto around, but the odd thing was is he couldn't quite recall exactly what she looked like. Even though he tried, no face came to mind. Still, the girl didn't exactly appear to be a threat from what he did manage to remember.

He gave a light shrug and then grinned toothily. "Well, maybe you'll make a new friend."

"Maybe…" She wasn't so sure considering how unenthused the other girl seemed to be.

As he watched the two girls leave his office, the smile on Gin Ichimaru's face widened ever so slightly. Once they were gone, he took out his cellphone and hit the number four speed dial before holding it to his ear. He waited a few moments before he heard the other line pick up.

"Yes, it's me. I have a little job for you…"

* * *

The next day was a rather interesting one for Temara. After spending the night trying to explain to her brother that she'd be tutoring one of her classmates in English because she was told to by an annoying teacher, she was finally able to figure out what she was going to do with it. She'd mapped out exactly what she was going to tell the unusual girl before the session that day even began as well as a way to determine where to begin.

By the time lunch hit, she was confident she had it all in the bag. Since she anticipated the session to begin once school was over, she never anticipated the other female to approach her before then. But as luck would have it, just as she was deciding which group of friends to sit with and listen to, she found the other female standing in front of her with a smile of her face.

"So what are we going to learn today Temara sensei?" she asked innocently.

"Don't call me sensei," she replied with a frown.

"Little Mara, then?"

"Don't even think about calling me that. It's Temara."

"Alright," Mikoto said agreeably. "Let's get started then."

Temara took hold of Mikoto and dragged her off to a secluded area. "Can't you wait until after school?" she said in annoyance once they were out of view.

"What's wrong with right now?" the other female asked. "We don't have any classes."

"No, but did you ever think I might be busy right now?"

"You mean eavesdropping?"

Temara flushed, partially out of embarrassment but mostly from irritation. "That's none of your business."

"Well, since you don't like being seen, I thought the rooftop might be a good place to study," Mikoto said moving on with the conversation. "I've noticed people don't go up there very often."

Temara didn't really have any way of disputing her observation so she was forced to agree and led the way to the roof top. Just as Mikoto had said, the place was void of others so she took a seat with her back leaning against the fence that lined the roof.

"Okay, if we're gonna do this we're going to have to set down some ground rules," Temara stated as she pulled her backpack off and started searching through it.

"Okay," Mikoto agreed sitting down next to her. "What are they?"

"Rule #1: you will never talk to me out of these tutoring sessions," Temara stated glaring up at her. "Rule #2: don't touch my stuff. I've seen you around the classroom. And Rule #3: NO PERSONAL QUESTIONS. Got all that?"

"Yep, I got it all," she answered with a smile. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, you keep those in mind and we won't have any problems," the dark haired girl answered having finally pulled out what she needed for the tutoring session before turning back to her sort of student. "So, let's start with something simple. What do you actually know about English?"

"Well, it's not that I don't understand it," Mikoto started. "I know the basic rules and all that."

"Well, obviously something's wrong if you're not doing well," Temara commented. "Or are you just lazy? Cuz I can't help you with that."

Mikoto shook her head, unabashed. "No, it's not that either."

The other girl's face tightened a little as she suppressed a frown. Not only was Mikoto being unhelpful with identifying her problem but Temara still couldn't make heads or tails of her.

"Well, let's try practicing a few English exercises and see if we can come up with something," she suggested.

Temara instructed Mikoto to write some passages and then rewrite them in a different order. As she did so, she did what she did best and observed. At first she didn't really notice anything new. It didn't take long for Mikoto's attention to stray elsewhere, much like it did in class, and Temara had to keep redirecting her attention. Well there's her problem, thought Temara, she can't stay focused.

"Come on, you only have one more sentence to write," Temara said exasperatedly. "What's distracting you this time?"

Mikoto didn't say anything, but pointed. Temara looked over and to her surprise saw a dark haired, fluorescently pale skinned male standing on the opposite side of the rooftop. She hadn't even heard him come up. Had she been that distracted?

"I know that guy," Temara murmured. "Ulquiorra Schiffer. He's at the top of our class." What was the deal with that? He never came up to the rooftops.

"Should we invite him over?" Mikoto asked.

"No. You need to focus and…" Temara suddenly noticed something was missing. "Hey! Where did my watch go?"

"What watch?" Mikoto asked curiously.

"What do you mean what watch?" Temara demanded. "The one I was wearing obviously." How had she missed it being pulled off? "I already told you not to touch my stuff."

"I didn't touch it though," Mikoto replied looking hurt.

"I hate it when people lie through their teeth, so just cough it up and let's move on," she sighed in irritation.

The bespectacled girl began feeling around for it. Temara waited impatiently for a couple minutes until Mikoto reached into the top of her shirt and pulled it out.

"Oh… here it is."

"Don't look so surprised," Temara exclaimed, snatching it back from her. "Go buy your own watch."

"I really didn't know," Mikoto insisted looking unabashed.

"Oh, right," Temara said patronizingly. "So I supposed it just jumped off my wrist and down your shirt?"

"Now that's just silly," was the other's reply. "Watches can't do that."

"No kidding," Temara grumbled. "Let's just get back to this." They continued with the tutoring until the lunch bell rang signaling the end of the break time. Temara gathered up her things feeling like they didn't get anywhere with the session and that it'd been a big waste of time. She glanced up towards the end of the building as she got to her feet and noticed the dark haired classmate was gone. "Huh, guess he finished before we did," she thought with a shrug. "Well, it's better than having him stare at us the whole time."

"That was fun, let's do it again after school," Mikoto suddenly exclaimed getting up as well.

"Let's not," Temara mumbled. "Once a day is enough for me."

"Alright, tomorrow at lunch then," Mikoto said decidedly. "See you then."

"Hey, wait a minute," Temara called out as Mikoto walked away, but the girl didn't stop as she disappeared inside the doors. She sighed in disgruntlement as she began making her way to class. "Great… at this rate it'll take me forever to dig up dirt on anyone."

* * *

After the school bell rang, Shuhei left his final class of the day and made his way to the gym for after school basket ball practice. Half way there, he heard his buddy Renji calling out to him to wait up as he ran down the hallway, nearly plowing down a freshman girl in the process.

"Renji, you know you're not supposed to run in the halls," Shuhei scolded him as he stopped to let the red head catch up.

"Yeah, I know," Renji muttered. "But I don't wanna be late for practice. Muguruma-sensei already chewed me out once for that."

Shuhei nodded in understanding, knowing how strict Muguruma sensei was when it came to being punctual. He was sometimes even worse than Kuchiki sensei.

"So, hey you're really close to Mikoto right?" Renji asked curiously as they headed off for the gym together.

"Sort of," Shuuhei answered nervously. "We sort of grew up together in the same orphanage. Why?"

"Well, something really odd happened the other day when I was talking to her and I was hoping you'd be able to shed a bit of light on the why," Renji answered. "See, I was trying to be a good friend and let her know I'd back her up if she ever needed it. Even if it was a teacher. She pretty much just told me I was stupid for thinking I needed to help her at all and she didn't see the point in it."

Shuhei looked at him in confusion and disbelief. "She actually said that?"

"Well… she didn't actually say it," Renji told him. "But when I told her all of that she just smiled and said 'I'm happy you feel that way'. Everybody knows what that's code for."

The older male sighed and shook his head. "You got it all wrong, man. She not… she's wasn't trying to snub you or anything. She's just… really reserved."

"How do you figure?" the red head asked curiously. He appreciated the fact Shuhei knew her better than him, but he still couldn't understand the way she acted.

"Just trust me on this, alright?" Shuhei told him as they entered the gym. He really didn't want to go into Mikoto's past with someone behind her back. He respected her privacy, and he knew she would do the same for him. "All you have to do is keep being a friend to her. She's got some major defenses, but I'm sure she'll come to appreciate the fact you mean well."

"You really think so?" Renji asked thinking about how little she actually showed.

"Yeah, you'll see," Shuuhei told him confidently. Renji nodded in understanding as a grin spread across his face. It was clear the guy was feeling a lot better about the whole situation and he was sure things would turn out alright. Mikoto may be different, but he was sure, and he hoped he was right, that she'd come around eventually.

* * *

For the next several days, Mikoto spent her lunches with Temara for tutoring. The latter seemed to be enjoying the sessions less and less each day. It didn't help that Mikoto kept finding her stuff stowed away in her bag, her pockets, or… other places. Something peculiar she had noticed, however, was the lurking presence of the pale boy from English class. Recently he seemed to be everywhere she went (at school anyway) and she knew it wasn't a coincidence. She also wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Mikoto, do you know that guy?" Shinji asked her one day as they were meeting up to leave for home.

"He's in my English class," she said, watching him from across the schoolyard. Even though he was currently reading a book beneath the shade of one of the trees, Mikoto was sure she had felt him watching her moments before. "Other than that, I haven't really met him."

The blonde male was disconcerted to start with, and this news didn't really help. He'd give the guy props for subtlety, but he didn't like the idea of Mikoto being followed around, even if he was a schoolmate. "Well, whatever you do, it's probably best if you stay away from him."

When he received no answer, he looked to see Mikoto was striding purposefully across the way to the pale skinned male.

Shinji resisted the urge to slap his own forehead as he saw her walking across, but it was a very close call. How dumb could she really be? She's deliberately going towards the person who is presumable stalking her. Certainly not smart.

Mikoto didn't see it that way though. As far as she was concerned, if he was going to follow her she was going to find out why. As she got closer to the pale boy, he looked up from his book at her.

"What do you want?" he asked uncaringly.

"I'm just curious to know why you've been following me," she asked getting straight to the point.

"What makes you think I am?"

"Well, you seem to be everywhere lately, and since it only just started happening earlier this week it wasn't that hard to figure out," she said just as bluntly.

"I see, so you're not completely clueless after all." The boy commented. He took several moments to look her over, as though he were sizing her up. Finally he said, "It's nothing you need to know."

Mikoto stared wordlessly at him and he stared right back. Then she said, "Fine, if you're going to watch me, then I'll just watch you too."

He watched as she sat down next to him and kept staring at him. Deciding to ignore her he went back to his book. A few moments later though, he could still feel her there and glanced back up to see she hadn't moved. "You're irritating," he muttered to her.

"People tell me that," Mikoto replied unabashed. "But until I find out why you're watching me I'll keep watching you."

The pair stared at each other for a few moments as Ulquiorra tried to put together why on earth she was doing any of this. His thoughts were cut off though as a smiling blonde came up behind her.

"Come on, Mikoto, we have to get going," Shinji said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Your class is going to start soon and I know you're looking forward to showing how much your tutoring has paid off."

Mikoto didn't want to leave just yet, but she knew he was right. So she stood up, readjusting the bag on her shoulder. Before leaving she made the two finger gesture to the pale boy that she had her eye on him.

As she left with Shinji she missed the whispered, "Irritating… yet intriguing."

"Geez, what kind of girl actually approaches a guy who's following her around?" Shinji commented from Mikoto's side. "A normal person would either avoid them or report it."

"Well… I don't think he means any harm," she commented thoughtfully.

"Oh?" His gaze slid to her, wondering if he actually might be able to see inside that unfathomable head of hers. "What makes you say that?"

"I didn't get that bad feeling from him."

Shinji raised an eyebrow at this. Her statement made it seem like she was able to discern the danger level of people simply from a feel. Then again, a lot of people avoid others because of "bad" feelings so he guessed it wasn't that unbelievable.

"Well, even without that it'd be best if you avoid him as much as you can," he told her seriously. "I doubt his reasons for following you are entirely pure."

"He seems harmless," Mikoto murmured. "What could happen?"

"A lot," he told her. "And I'd really hate to see such a cute girl get hurt, so just be careful, alright?" That and the boss would probably tear him a new one if anything happened to her.

"Alright, I'll try to be more careful," she promised.

She missed the mildly annoyed look on Shinji's face. He'd just called her cute and he didn't even get so much as a blink or a blush. Talk about no fun.

* * *

CM: Yes, the arrancar are in this too. How could we resist? Hopefully the story is beginning to pick up, and if not, don't worry, it will very soon. :)


	4. Bad Touch

**Chapter 4: Bad Touch**

As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, Temara slipped out the window to her bedroom and once again made her way towards the red light district. She traveled quickly and without drawing any attention to herself before reaching her destination, "Love's paradise."

Once again she spent the first few minutes letting the bouncers know who she was and her reason for being there. This time, they told her Love was busy and unable to meet with her at that moment. She shrugged it off and told them she'd wait before stepping inside and taking a seat at the bar. The bouncers weren't too happy with this, though they let it slide as Love liked having her around.

After taking her seat she started killing time by inspecting the current occupants of the main room.

At first she didn't really notice anything special. The usual staff was there, half of which she happened to know from school. Two of the more notable ones were Shuhei Hisagi and Izuru Kira, who had started working there the year before. The only reason she took special note of them was because they were both part of Mikoto's new clique. Temara's lips turned up in amusement when she thought about how the little klepto might react if she knew how those two spent their after school hours.

Temara heard a girl cry out in surprise followed by a deep voice apologizing profusely. A voice she recognize. Her head whipped around and much to her shock/amusement/befuddlement, she saw Renji clad in a host outfit. She could scarcely believe it. Renji, a host? What's next, Hanataro decides to become a sumo wrestler?

She smiled to herself as she watched him quickly wipe up the spilled drink from the table and the customer's dress. "I'm really sorry," he told her again and she giggled lightly at his flustered expression.

"Oh that's alright," the customer replied with a smile. "It'll come out."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Besides you're cute so I don't mind."

Temara continued to watch the two and when he gave his customer a nearly smoldering smile she began to wonder what it'd be like to have him look at her like that...heck to have him look at her at all.

"I've told you before not to wait out here."

Temara glanced up at the sound of the voice and smirked at the owner of the establishment. "Can't help it. I get curious about how the place is going," she answered with a shrug as she slowly got to her feet.

"I didn't think this sort of thing interested you," Love commented.

"It doesn't." She glanced over at the red head once more. He appeared a little more relaxed but was still sweating bullets compared to the more experienced ones. "Though I did notice you have a newbie on your staff."

"Yeah, one of my boys recommended him," the club owner commented, looking over to Renji as well. "I had my misgivings at first but, the guy has been surprisingly good with the guests so far. Granted he's still a little rough when it comes to manners, but I figure that'll smooth out over time."

"Yeah…" Temara wasn't all that surprised. Renji was never good when it came to etiquette.

"Right, why I am even telling you this? You probably already have it written down somewhere," Love joked, turning back to her. "So, down to business then."

"Of course," she replied turning toward his office and following him inside. "You asked for quite a few profiles this time. Looking to start hiring a few more hands?"

"No," Love answered taking a seat behind his desk and taking the folder of profiles she offered him.

"So what is all this stuff for?" she asked curiously. "Most of them don't even go to school anymore."

"It doesn't matter," he told her finishing flipping through the folder. "You just worry about bringing in the information. I'll worry about what to do with it."

"Right, so how about the usual 5,000 yen per," she said leaning forward.

Love was more than satisfied with this arrangement. He was actually waiting for the day when she would suddenly bump up the price, though knowing her it wouldn't be anything too overly demanding. He did sometimes wonder what the kid was saving up for but that was none of his business.

After making the transaction and packing away her money, Temara thanked Love and showed herself out. On her way to the front door, she looked back again to see Renji with a pair of older females on either side of him admiring his tattoo work.

She felt a little bothered by the sight, partially because she thought it was stupid, but also because… a small part of her wanted to be sitting next to him, chatting and laughing. But how could she, when he didn't even know she existed?

She swallowed back the sense of saddness that was welling up inside of her before turning on her heel and heading out the door. It didn't matter anyway. If she could just last for three more years she'd be set. Then maybe she'd be able to figure out how to be seen again. Until then though, she'd just have to suck it up, for her brother as well.

* * *

As the week went on, Mikoto continued to be aware of Ulquiorra's watchful eye. As she told Shiji before, it wasn't a threatening or disconcerting presence, but she still wanted to know why. Still, she had promised to try for caution, so she hadn't tried to approach him since then. But she would on occasion watch him, which often result in a quick meeting of the eyes before he went back to whatever he was –or pretending to be- doing.

It was at the end of PE and it was her turn to put the equipment away. So after Yoruichi-sensei praised them all for a good day of hard work, she began gathered up the stuff and taking it to the storage locker. She had forgotten to let Shinji know she'd be a little late meeting up with him, but she didn't think he'd be too upset. He was fairly laid back about a lot of things.

Just as she'd finished getting the last of the gear and began making her way towards the closet, she was stopped by a hand shooting out in front of her face and slamming against the wall beside her. She was a little startled at first, but that surprise quickly vanished and her face set into one of pleasant demeanor.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked turning to look the person in the eye. Quite literally actually. He was a good head and shoulders taller than her with shoulder length straight black hair and an eye patch over one eye. A part of her kind of wanted to know why it was there but thought better of asking.

He didn't say anything at first, his lean body towering over her as a slitted, steel gray eye roamed over her. Mikoto noticed the color of his tie and saw he was a third year like Hitsugaya.

"So…" the comment hung in the air as his eyes swept back up to meet hers. "You're the chick Ulquiorra is suddenly so interested in." His face split into a unfriendly smile that showed his teeth.. "Didn't even think he had a type. Hell, I was beginning to wonder if he was really straight."

Mikoto didn't move. She'd learned on nature shows that predators were attracted to movement, and this person felt like a predator. So she kept perfectly still, maintaining her calm. "I don't know anything about that."

"Sure you do," he continued leaning in ever so slightly. "You approached him the other day to find out right? So what did the little bastard say?"

"He didn't say," Mikoto answered with a shrug. There was no hint of fear or worry on her face as she spoke and the older boy's upper lip twitched a bit.

"You're telling me he didn't mention the reason he was following you around or why he seems to be so interested in you?" he asked moving the hand not pressed against the wall to rest against it on the other side of her head. "Not even a single word?"

"Nope," she answered easily. "Even after telling him I'd start watching him too, he still didn't say anything. Why do you ask? Does he make you nervous even though he's younger?"

At that, his eyes narrowed. "You're irritating." He brought one of his hands down, smacking the equipment out of her hands and sending it scattering onto the ground at their feet. "What's with that calm attitude, huh?" He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her roughly against the wall, causing her to wince. "I can't stand girls who don't cry a little bit. Let's see some fear."

Mikoto stared back at him silently in answer, showing him she wasn't interested in what he wanted nor was she willing to cater to his demands. Her face remained passive, a blank slate.

Nnoitra glared at her for a few moments before smiling again. "So… you wanna keep acting tough?" He reached up and tore open the top of her shirt, popping off at least four buttons and revealing the tops of her cotton covered breasts. He seized one in hand, squeezing it none too gently. "Fine by me," he hissed, leaning a bit closer and letting his tongue flick out to sweep across her cheek. "One way or another I'll get you to scream."

Mikoto didn't cry out, didn't shudder, didn't so much as breathe. Her lungs were frozen in place and she was having a harder time erasing her fear.

"Heh, I'm willing to bet anything your cherry's still intact. I wonder if that little prick will still be interested in you after you've been had," he muttered, reaching one of his hands up her skirt.

She felt his breath on her neck and collar as he lowered his head bit by bit until his head was just above her somewhat revealed breasts. Before he could do anything though, his head was knocked to the side by a soccer ball.

Once he regained his senses, he turned in anger to see an irritated blonde walking over to them. "Want to start something, Shinji?" he demanded keeping a firm grip on the unmoving girl before him.

There was no verbal answer as the blond reached forward and pulled her out of his grip wrapping an arm around her and planting a quick one on her lips. "This one's with me, Nnoitra," he stated simply. "If you want to torture someone, go find someone else."

Mikoto in that moment was so overtaken by surprised she didn't even speak. Even though it had been very quick and brief, the kiss had been firm and owning, leaving a tingling imprint on her mouth. She did nothing to move away from Shinji, staying in the confinement of his warm grip.

Nnoitra glared at the blonde for several moments. "She's yours, huh?"

"Most definitely," Shinji said, his face cracking into a grin. "We've already done it countless times. Bedroom, park, rooftop, you name it."

Mikoto blinked and she could feel heat come into her face. Did he really just say all that?

Nnoitra couldn't believe it either. He frowned at the two thinking about how she was taken in more ways than one and began to feel his sense of fun vanishing. It was just too boring if she'd already popped that cherry. After a moment of sizing the two of them up, he humphed and turned on his heel muttering about how boring it was. Then he walked off with his hands in his pockets.

Shinji waited until he was gone before turning to Mikoto. "Are you okay?" he asked forcing himself not to look at the still open shirt.

"I-I don't know," she answered meeting his eyes for a moment before they suddenly slid closed and went limp in his arms.

"H-hey! Mikoto?" he called out to her as he caught her and lifted her up in his arms.

It was no use, she was out cold. Not surprising, he supposed. Even though it hadn't shown on her face, he couldn't even consider she'd come out of that and not be at least a little shaken. Even though school was over, he figured it would be best to take her to the nurse and let her recover… and possibly get a new shirt. It was hard to resist the temptation to look. Thankfully everyone was either leaving or heading for after school sports or club activities, so he didn't run into very many people.

When he got to the nurse's office, he knocked on the door with his foot. "Hey, anyone still in there?" he called out loudly. He really hoped the nurse hadn't decided to skip out early. It'd be a pain having to carry an unconscious girl all the way home.

After a moment of silence, the door slowly opened and a tall dark haired female with a gentle expression stepped through. "Hirako Shinji," she murmured with a smile before looking down at the girl in his arms. "I thought better of you."

"This wasn't my doing," Shinji muttered looking her right in the eyes. "I was just the one that saved her."

"I assumed," the woman murmured in light amusement. "Bring her inside and set her on one of the beds. I'll get her a change of clothing."

He nodded and stepped inside before heading over to the nearest bed and laying her down. He glanced at her open shirt and thought about fixing it, but decided against it. Moments later, the nurse came in with a clean shirt in her hands.

"Wait outside," she murmured gesturing towards the opposite end of the curtain that could stretch fully around the bed.

Shinji nodded and stepped outside, shutting the door behind him. He relaxed against one of the walls, waiting for her to be done. He felt more than fortunate he'd had the good sense to go looking for her when she hadn't shown up at her usual time. Any longer and there was no mistake what that creep would have done to her. Especially if he'd discovered for certain she was indeed a virgin, but thanks to Shinji's little white lie, she would more or less be safe from him at least.

Now his only issue was explaining to his boss about that kiss he'd stolen. Sure, it had been a simple means to an end, but it could still very well be considered crossing a line. A part of him also did regret not having seen her face when he'd done it, and he wondered what sort of expression she might have made, if any at all.

When he heard the door open he glanced up to see Unohana smiling. "You may come back in. I believe she's coming around."

He nodded and pushed himself off the wall before heading behind the curtain. There he saw Mikoto stirring slightly. She didn't seem to be very peaceful as her hands gripped into fists at her side. Thinking he should help her out, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Immediately her eyes shot open and she sat up quickly looking around. Though her face didn't express any emotion, he was sure that the way she was looking around meant her recent incident was still fresh in her mind.

"Hey, calm down," he murmured calmly. "I got rid of that guy. He shouldn't bother you any time soon."

She turned her head and looked directly into his eyes. After a moment, her body seemed to relax a bit and she smiled. "Thanks," she murmured. "You really helped me out."

"Well, of course," Shinji said with a wide, toothy grin. "Your dad would have skinned me alive and boiled me for supper if I'd let anything happen to you."

"Are you saying he practices cannibalism?" she asked with a deadpan expression.

His shoulders shook with a silent chuckle. "Let's just get you home."

"Alright," she said standing up. She noticed her shirt was completely fixed and looked at him. "I thought my shirt got ripped."

"You have this kind lady to thank for that," he said, gesturing to the smiling nurse.

Mikoto turned to the nurse and gave a gracious bow. "Thank you, Nurse Unohana."

"It was my pleasure," she replied with an incline of her head. "You both run along, and be safe."

They nodded and left the nurse's office. After getting their stuff, the pair left the school grounds and began making the walk home.

As the pair continued down the hallway towards the exit, Shinji noticed the smile on her face was slightly off. It felt weird to him being able to see just how much the encounter with Nnoitra had shaken her. "So, feeling any better?" he asked hoping a bit of conversation would help relax her a bit.

"Yes," she answered calmly enough. "I'm sorry for passing out after you helped me. I must have just pushed myself too hard in PE today."

Shinji highly doubted that, but he knew she wouldn't simply tell him the truth so he thought he'd do something different. He turned stopping in front of her and grinned. "You know, if you smiled for real you may actually feel better."

"How?"

"Heh, like this."

Shinji stuck his two index fingers in his mouth and stretched the sides wide open, used his thumbs two pull down his eyelids, and let his tongue hang out. Mikoto took one look at it and her cheeks puffed out before releasing a giggle. It was short live and she covered her mouth with her hand right afterwards.

The blonde male's eyes were quick, however, and he'd managed to catch the glimpse of a genuine smile on her face. He had to say, he liked the effect it had. "Heh, now that's more like it," he said, dropping his hands and letting his face go back to normal. "You should smile like that more often. Makes you look even cuter."

Mikoto directed her gaze at the ground, until her mask was once more set in place. "Thank you," she said, smiling up at him. He was almost saddened to see it wasn't the authentic smile he'd caught sight of moments before. "But there are some doors that should never be opened." She stepped around him. "If we don't hurry, Papa might get worried."

Shinji watched her walk away in slight irritation. What did she mean by the doors analogy? Well, he figured he'd just ignore her warning for now. He was now fully determined to make sure to bring out that real smile again; maybe even for a longer period of time. With this thought in mind, he followed after her formulating his plan as he went.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nnoitra pushed open the door of an office with his foot and marched inside. He'd been called into the office after his little scuffle with Mikoto. His blood was boiling in irritation towards the girl, the blond who saved her, and the teacher that called him in.

"Glad you could make it," an amused sounding voice greeted as he stepped inside. Nnoitra glared at the man behind the desk with his short silver hair and never ending smile.

Nnoitra could easily say he hated the guy. That smile just pissed him off to no end, mostly because –and he would never admit this to anyone else- it set him on edge in a way most things couldn't. But while he may hate the guy, he was forced to have a grudging respect for him. Plus, the silver haired bastard wasn't overly demanding, unlike their boss. He more or less let them do whatever. Except today.

"What's this about, teach?" He said the word 'teach' without any infliction of the respect that was due towards someone of his rank.

Gin merely smiled wider, undisturbed by the lack of deference. "Ulqui has recently informed me you were better acquainting yourself with the new student."

"So what, is the little prick whining about me messing with the girl he had his eye on but lost to that blonde bastard?" Nnoitra asked crossing his arms.

"Nothing quite so amusing," Gin chuckled getting to his feet. "See, I have my own interest in this particular child. Ulquiorra was simply, watching her for me. I was both amused and disappointed by your pass at her."

Nnoitra smirked at this silently pleased that he was able to affect the silver haired man.

"However," Gin turned to face the younger man before him, the same smile still in place. "You will never repeat the incident with her. Do you understand?"

The dark haired male's smile slipped a bit. There it was; that unsettling sensation enough to demoralize the most blood thirsty and soulless of people. Even though the other man's expression hadn't changed, he might as well have promised Nnoitra a merciless death if the action was ever repeated. The student didn't answer, but instead broke eye contact with the guy, pretending as though he'd lost interest, rather than reveal the fact he was no longer comfortable holding the other man's gaze.

"I'm glad," Gin stated, returning to his seat even though Nnoitra never did give a verbal answer. "That's all I wanted to speak with you about. You're free to go, unless there was anything else you'd like to say."

"Not a thing," Nnoitra commented before turning on his heel and leaving the room. As he stepped through the door he could feel the smiling gaze of the man he despised sitting on him until he disappeared through the door.

Once outside, he made his way down the hall searching for a single person. He was going to wipe that smirk off the older man's face...though he figured he could do it indirectly.

* * *

The sound of footsteps on the tiled floor was all that Temara heard as she strolled down the halls of the school. It'd been an hour and a half after the last class let out and she was looking for Mikoto. The two of them had set up a tutoring session for after school and she hadn't shown up. So after waiting for so long she'd gone looking for her.

"If I find out she forgot or just flat out ditched me I'm never going to tutor her again," she swore under her breath. This whole thing was just a big waste of her time anyway.

As she continued through the halls, bypassing several different club meetings, she eventually spotted a mane of blue hair disappearing around a corner with another man with long dark hair.

"Huh? Wasn't that Grimmjow?" she muttered to herself. "Yeah, and the other was Nnoitra from the third year class. What could they possibly be doing? They never hang out."

Now, nearly anyone else in the school, upon seeing Nnoitra and Grimmjow –two of the most feared males in the school- traveling together, would have happily ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction and pray neither sensed their fear as they fled. Temara, however, wanted to know what was up. It wasn't smart, but she absolutely could not resist getting to the bottom of this.

So, she soundlessly followed the two, inclined on getting whatever info they had to offer. She maintained an appropriate distance, not drawing any sort of attention to herself. She watched as the pair entered one of the unused classrooms. She slinked over to the doorway, stopping just outside of it so she could listen in on what was being said.

"So what the hell's so interesting that you had to drag me all the way here to talk?" Grimmjow's voice was rough, but carried a deep smoothness in contrast to Nnoitra's voice which had an oily slickness that gave her chills.

"I have a few topics," Noitra answered easily. "First off, have you had any luck?"

"What, with recruiting?" Grimmjow asked folding his arms in front of him. "The year just started. I haven't even found a single sap worth lookin' at."

"The second in command seems to have found an interesting potential," Nnoitra pointed out. "As has the little bastard. Kind of sad that you still have found no one."

Recruits, potentials? Temara was completely confused by the conversation. It was as if the two were old pals or comrades. At the very least it was obvious they knew each other...well.

"Tch, if they can't even stand in front of me without pissin' themselves, there's no way in hell they're yakuza material," Grimmjow stated. "Our group has enough weaklings as it is."

Temara had the sensation of her stomach dropping out of existence. Did he just say yakuza? No way… that just wasn't possible. As she stood there momentarily frozen, Nnoitra spoke again.

"You can say that all you'd like, but don't forget you're not that high up on the chain either, Grimmjow," the dark haired one said in a reminding fashion. "And unless you start rounding up potentials soon, the boss is gonna start getting pissy."

"Let him," the other muttered. "If he's in such a big damn hurry he can go look for recruits himself. This is a boring ass job anyway."

Temara slumped against the wall to keep herself from falling over in fear. Yakuza...she'd heard about yakuza clans since she was a kid and always thought of them as some mythological group of dangerous people that did whatever they wanted. Now, she was standing feet from two members of one of the clans. Her brain froze on these thoughts unable for several moments to move.

A sudden dark laugh from inside brought her attention back to the present as another thought took its place. She had to run. If she was caught listening in on this she'd be in huge trouble. Not only her...she'd probably drag Sato into it as well. Quickly she got off the wall and headed down the hall away from the room as quickly as she could without actually running. After all, attracting attention was the last thing she wanted.

As Temara was fleeing the scene, Grimmjow glanced out the window to the room finding himself irritated by the laugh elicited by the guy next to him. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of shoulder length brown hair fluttering behind a young female. He couldn't see a face or anything else about her either. A part of him was sure she had overheard them and was about to follow but Nnoitra began speaking again and she soon faded from his memory.

"Speaking of interesting people…" Nnoitra said with his overly toothy smile. "That girl Ulquiorra's got his eyes set on, I took the liberty of talking to her."

"Yeah? So what?" the blue haired teen said as he made his way to the door.

"Well, you know how that damn brat is always so infuriatingly calm?" he asked referring to Ulquiorra. "She was like that, except her face was totally blank. Even when I threatened to rape her she didn't so much as bat an eye."

This comment piqued Grimmjow's interest. He'd seen a time or two what Nnoitra did to girls. He was a chauvinistic bastard who enjoyed forcing females into submission, delighted in hurting them and making them cry. Though his area of concentration was narrowed down to the pure and untouched; virgins, in other words. Most if not all who were unfortunate enough to attract his notice were reduced to pathetic, quivering masses.

He realized he had paused at the door, and slowly he glanced over his shoulder at the older male. "You're saying she didn't react at all?"

"She didn't flinch, her voice didn't waver, there was absolutely nothing," he answered a grin spreading across his face at the expression on his companion. "Even when I placed my hands on her, tore open her shirt, nothing. When her hero showed up there was no change. She didn't even cry into his shoulder in relief."

Grimmjow smirked at this thinking about what the man in front of him had said. If this girl could keep from making a single exclamation at his administrations...he had to give it a shot just to see how far he could push it. If nothing else he wanted to have her react when Nnoitra couldn't.

"What was this girl's name again?" he asked curiously.

Nnoitra's grin grew as he answered. "Mikoto."

* * *

CM: Wow, now there are two people who's attention you DO NOT want to catch. What's going to happen now? Find out in the next chapter, and please review if you could. :)


	5. Ignorance Was Bliss

**Chapter 5: Ignorance Was Bliss**

When Mikoto and Shinji arrived at her house, Urahara was there to greet them as per usual. The blond stood aside while she received a warm welcome home from her father. He managed to catch the older man's eye and the shop keeper immediately understood. After sending Mikoto inside, he turned to Shinji.

"What happened?"

The man's tone remained passive, but damn, he was good when it came to weighing the gravity of a situation. "Nothing," Shinji said. "Or at least, nothing that COULD have happened." Where to start? "I already told you about Mikoto's follower, right? Well, she had another disturbing 'admirer' today."

Urahara's gaze darkened from behind his fan. "And who was this admirer?"

"His name is Nnoitra, and he has a reputation for seeking out virgins," Shinji explained, distaste evident in his tone. "He cornered her after her last class. I managed to make it there in time before he went too far, but…"

"But what?"

"But he'd already torn open the top of her shirt and one of his hands was aiming...well, down there," Shinji answered awkwardly. "I don't know what he'd managed to do before that and she wouldn't tell me, not that I blame her. She passed out right afterwards, probably because of shock. Even after waking up I could still tell that she was shaken by it...normally you really can't tell."

"I see," Urahara murmured his face softening at the thought of what Mikoto had gone through. "Thank you for taking care of her. Keep an eye out for him in the future. I'd rather not have a repeat." He adopted the tone of a doting father. "I just couldn't imagine seeing my poor little girl in so much pain!"

"Yeah, sure thing." Shinji wanted to leave right then, and not say any more. However, he knew it needed to be said now, lest it come back to bite him on the ass later. "I don't think we'll need to worry about him too much anymore."

"Oh?" Urahara sobered up a bit, waving his fan a little. "Why is that?"

"Well, from what I heard, this guy's only really interested in untaken females. So, to show him otherwise, I kissed her and might have claimed a few things untrue."

The shop keeper was silent for a few moments while Shinji waited for the hellfire to rain down on him. The fan shut with a snap, revealing a small smile on the man's face. "I knew I was right to entrust her with you."

Shinji smiled in relief at this as he was sure his boss would kill him. "Thank you sir," he said with a respectful bow.

"Of course," Urahara replied with a light laugh. "Well, it's time I go check up on her and see how she's doing. Be sure to keep up the good work." After that he disappeared inside and Shinji started heading home. He knew he'd keep doing what he was doing, but a part of him was concerned. If she'd already come across two untrustworthy people who became interested in her, then who else is she going to attract.

* * *

The next morning Temara left her house earlier than usual. She'd spent the night trying to convince her brother that nothing was wrong and retired to bed early exhausted from her argument. How on earth could she tell him that she overheard two yakuza guys chatting at school and there's the chance they may figure that out?

No, she couldn't get him involved...she didn't want to be involved either. She'd just have to lay low around them that's all and pretend nothing had happened. So this morning she left before he was even awake and made it to her favorite cafe. It was a small establishment with indoor and outdoor seating and fairly cheap prices on everything. She liked coming here because it was easy to find a spot that allowed her to hear everything going on from all parts of the place. It was the perfect spot to gather all sorts of information.

She learned a lot from watching people. Their body language, nervous ticks, the slight flickers of movement in the face and eyes. In fact, it was easy to learn what sort of a person they were just by observing an individual long enough. When she stepped it up a notch and actually started listening to them, the way they spoke and interacted with others, then she really could get a glimpse of who they were.

That's the sort of thing Temara did. It was really the only thing she had to pass the time which would have otherwise been taken up by friends. Knowledge was power after all. So, she settled into her usual spot, and pretended to read a boring magazine.

The café door opened and her eyes flitted impulsively towards the door. She gave an inward groan when she saw who it was. Mikoto strolled into the café, wearing a simple blue long sleeved shirt and black pants, appropriate for the cooling weather. It was difficult to tell what sort of mood she was in, since her face carried all the expressiveness of a rock. She calmly strolled to the counter and ordered a hot spiced chai latte.

"Please don't notice me," Temara thought.

A few moments later, she wished she hadn't tempted fate, because Mikoto took a furtive glance around the café as she waited for her drink, and her eyes fell onto Temara.

The girl waited until she got her drink before making her way over to her tutor and sitting next to her. "Hi, Temara," she greeted with a smile. "Do you come to places like this often?"

"Ugh, yeah sort of," Temara groaned. How was she supposed to get any info gathering done with her around. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to tour around town," Mikoto answered with a shrug. "I'm glad to see you out of school. You looked really happy a moment ago."

"I wonder why I don't any longer," the tutor muttered under her breath. She glanced up to see the other give her a curious look and sighed. "It's good to see you too. I'm kind of in the middle of something though so if you could go sit somewhere else I can get back to work."

"More eavesdropping?" the other inquired with a smile.

"Would you stop calling it that?" Temara said with a sour look. Even though that's essentially what it was, she felt what she did was more than just eavesdropping. It was higher and less demeaning somehow. "Look, everyone has their hobbies. I have mine, just like you have your kleptomania." If the girl was going to take a shot at her, intentional or not, then she would shoot right back.

Mikoto's head tilted a little to the side, and it was hard to tell if she was offended by the remark. "It's not a hobby." Not by definition, at least.

"Whatever, just go away. I told you before not to approach me outside of tutoring," Temara reminded her.

Mikoto nodded to show that she remembered. "Do you… like what you do?"

"Yeah, I do, and you make it a lot harder to do any of it when you draw attention to me so easily," she replied harshly. "Please go away."

"Wouldn't it be less suspicious if you were sitting with a friend than by yourself?" Mikoto asked curiously.

"No, people don't notice me in the first place so actually you're hindering my work," Temara pointed out. "And besides, you're not my friend."

"Why do you keep calling it work? I thought students weren't allowed to have jobs."

"They're not. This is a hobby not a job."

"Well, what do you do with the stuff you hear anyway?"

Temara had enough and nearly slammed her fist on the table in irritation. "What did I say about personal questions?"

"Uh...not to ask them?"

"Exactly. This is my life and right now you're prying. Just go away."

"Alright." Mikoto knew better than to impose herself on other people, so she turned and left the café.

Temara breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully she hadn't attracted too much attention. Now she could get back to her… her eyes widened when she noticed her favorite pen had gone missing. She glared at the door the girl had just exited. That little… She restrained a growl as she shoved her stuff into her bag and began her pursuit. The girl was really beginning to grate on Temara's nerves. Normally she wouldn't have felt too sore about it. If it had been the watch again, she might have just waited until Monday. But that pen was… special.

Temara was rather impressed at the distance Mikoto had managed to cover in such a short time, and found herself wheezing to catch up. It didn't help she had to keep at a fast walk, not run, because that attracted attention.

When she finally caught up to her she spun her around quickly and may have shouted at her had she not been completely out of breath. "I told you...not to touch...my stuff," she panted leaning over her own knees. "Just...give me back my...pen and we won't...have any...problems."

"But...I didn't take your pen," Mikoto replied in confusion.

"Don't start that again. Just find it and give it back," Temara ordered holding her hand out. The girl shrugged and searched her being until she found the pen in her pocket. Temara swiped it out of her hand and slipped it into her own pocket out of sight. "Seriously, what is wrong with you? Can't you go even five minutes without stealing something from someone?"

Mikoto was silent for several moments. "I can't help it."

"What do you mean you can't help it," the other girl asked in irritation.

The girl with pig tails looked down at her drink, not in an uncomfortable manner, more thoughtful and pensive. "It's just something that happens. Whenever I see something that looks interesting, I later find myself having it. I don't know how or when."

That wasn't to say her theft was solely limited to this. There were often times where when she saw something she wanted, she would knowingly take it. She didn't do it out of ill intention, or even for fun, really. She'd been doing it so often for so long it just became second nature for her. And nine times out of ten, she didn't get caught.

"So you're telling me you just take things willy nilly unconsciously?" Temara demanded. She couldn't understand how it would be possible for a person to take something, no matter how small and not know about it.

"No, I'm conscious," she replied. "I just don't know I did it."

"That's what I said," Temara groaned. "Look, if it is something that happens without you knowing about it, then you need to pay more attention to yourself. You're gonna get into a ton of trouble if you don't get that under control."

Mikoto shrugged in a non-committal way. She already knew all about that. "Well, I hope you have a good rest of your day." She turned and began walking away again.

Temara watched her go, chewing on her lip for a moment. She'd been wanting to learn more about Mikoto, but so far, simple observation hadn't been enough. Maybe the only way was to actually spend time with her. "Hey," she called out. "You got any big plans today?"

Mikoto stopped and turned to look at her. "Not really."

Temara smiled a little. "Well, in that case, how about I show you something?"

"What is it?"

"Let's just say it'll shed a whole new light on that group of pals you hang with."

The girl with glasses thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Alright."

Temara grinned despite herself and began leading down the streets of Karakura town. "So, Mikoto, are you really Urahara sensei's kid?"

"What happened to no personal questions?" Mikoto teased.

"I'm just asking. If you don't want to answer then don't," Temara grumbled.

"Hehe...yeah I am. He adopted me only a couple months ago," she answered with a light giggle. It was more of a forced laugh than a real one which irritated Temara, but she let it slide.

"What's it like...living with a guy that crazy?" she asked.

"He's not crazy per say." The other girl took her time thinking of the right words to describe her new guardian. "Though I suppose by normal people's standards he is unusual. But he's what you would expect any regular parent to be."

Well… maybe not exactly what you would expect. Most people wouldn't adopt a child after learning they were both a klepto and a liar. Yet he had taken her in and treated her very well. Heck, he practically spoiled her.

"I've only heard about him from some of the other students," Temara commented. "I'd been considering taking his shop class for one of my alternatives, but I only had the last two periods open this semester and he doesn't teach 6th and 7th period."

"That might be fun." Mikoto enjoyed hands on work more than anything, and she didn't think she'd have to worry about being the teacher's kid. When at school, Urahara treated her like any other student, not favoring her over anyone else. He saved the father daughter moments for when they were at home.

"I don't know," Temara murmured with a shrug. "I'm not really good with that sort of class. I'd probably end up failing it like I am Home ec."

"You're failing?"

"Okay, so I'm probably exaggerating, but the point is I'm not doing well," Temara amended. "You've seen the stuff I come up with in class. If I wasn't working with Tatsuki it'd be even worse."

"Hehe, it can't be any worse than Ichigo's right?" Mikoto asked.

Temara laughed at that, she couldn't help but agree to it. "I'll give you that," she said in amusement. "I can happily say I've never torched a slice of toast before."

When they arrived at their destination, Temara stopped and gestured to the building. "Well, here we are."

Mikoto stared for a few moments before looking at the other girl. "Love's Paradise?"

Temara gave a nod and grinned. "Have you ever wondered what Shuhei and the others did with their spare time?"

Mikoto shook her head. "Not really."

Temara's face fell a little at that, but she wasn't about to let it ruin her fun. "Well, I think you just might find this to be interesting. Come on, follow me."

Mikoto gave no protest as she walked behind Temara into the club. Since it was daylight hours, the place was more brightly lit and decorated to accommodate a wider range of customers.

The usual bouncers that protected the front door after dark were no longer present either. She supposed they wouldn't be needed quite as much since the unruly customers wouldn't come around until after dark.

"Come on let's grab a seat and grab something to eat," Temara told her dragging her over to the bar. "My treat."

"Okay." The two made their way towards the bar and placed an order for a shared plate of fries.

"Check it out," the shorter haired girl told her companion as she gestured around the place. "Never thought you'd see Shuhei like this huh."

Mikoto glanced around, finding the place to be rather intriguing. There were several males and females dressed up in fitted server uniforms. She noticed the male customers had female servers while the females had male servers. She spotted Shuhei currently standing at a table with three females. He was leaning awfully close to one girl, pointing at something on the menu she was holding.

The girl smiled up at him and nodded. He inclined his head and after taking the menu from her, he brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. The girl blushed while the other two females squealed in delight.

"So is that his girlfriend?" Mikoto asked.

"Naw, just one of his many drooling customers," Temara stated in amusement. "From what I've heard he's actually one of the more popular ones."

Mikoto wore the expression of one who still didn't quite understand what was being said.

"This is his job," Temara tried to explain. "In other words he gets paid to have meals with these girls and make them feel really good about themselves. It's almost like he's paid to date them for an hour or two."

"Oh...so like a prostitute?"

"What? No," Temara exclaimed. How in the world did she come to that conclusion. "No, it's just the date here...sometimes they go out with the girl elsewhere, but there's no sex involved here."

Mikoto nodded slowly. "I think I get it."

Temara had to wonder about that. As Shuhei passed their table, he caught sight of Mikoto and nearly dropped the menus he'd been carrying. "M-Mikoto," he stuttered, suddenly looking very nervous. "What are you doing here?"

"Just touring around," she replied with a shrug. "So this is what you do in your free time?"

He coughed, clearing his throat. "I, uh… look I needed the job and it pays really well, so please… don't tell anyone."

"Why not? You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I could get kicked out of school if anyone found out," he whispered urgently. "Just...keep it to yourself okay."

"Okay, you can count on me," Mikoto promised with a smile. "you sure have a lot of girlfriends though. I'm impressed."

Temara wanted to laugh at the expression on his face but she kept herself in control. She could see that he hadn't noticed her and decided to keep it that way. It'd be harder to move around the place as she pleased with him knowing she was there.

Shuuhei wasn't sure what to make of her promise so he decided to just accept it. "Alright, well I have to get back to work. Make yourself comfortable," he said before continuing on his way.

"So… just how close are you two?" Temara asked Mikoto after the teen male had gone.

"We've known each other since we were kids," the latter replied, redirecting her attention to the girl across from her.

"Hm…" Temara suddenly got a wicked idea. "You know… I bet Shuhei gets really tired of getting the same old customer all the time. I think he might like a break from it, just for a little bit."

"What are you suggesting?" Mikoto asked her.

"Well, considering the two of you are close friends…"

"I never said that," Mikoto cut in.

Temara ignored her. "…I think he'd like it very much if you became a customer for him. Just for one night, that's all."

"So you think I should buy him?" The girl with pigtails couldn't help but be suspicious and skeptical about all of this. So far, Temara had shown very little interest in her well being. "What do you get out of it?" she asked pleasantly.

"I get to see something amusing," Temara answered with a shrug. "At least it will be for me. Other than that absolutely nothing. But I'm sure it'll give the two of you a chance to talk in private for awhile."

"Not if your eavesdropping," Mikoto pointed out.

"Don't worry, I'd only see the beginning of it," Temara assured her. "Then I'd be out of your hair. As much as I like to listen in on things, I know when to make myself scarce."

Mikoto thought on it for a few moments. She'd never been on a date before, and the idea did sound intriguing. She'd probably have to get money for it though. "So, how does it work then?"

Temara cracked a grin at that, thinking of how much fun this was going to be.

* * *

When Mikoto got home later that day she went through the usual routine with her dad before sitting down for dinner. Afterwards, as Tessai was clearing the dishes away, she decided to make her proposal.

"Papa, you said if there was something I wanted, all I had to do was ask you, right?" He had indeed once told her this, though this was the first time she'd decided to put it into effect.

"That's right," he said with a nod, whipping out his fan. "So then, what is it that you want?"

"I need money to buy a man," she said forwardly.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth Ginta spat the water he was drinking out all over the floor and Tessai nearly dropped the dishes in his hand. Urahara on the other hand simply lowered the fan in his hand and smiled curiously at her.

"And why do you want to buy a man?" he asked her.

"Because I wanted to see what it was like," she answered easily.

"And, where did you hear you could buy a man?"

"Love's Paradise," she told him. "I was walking around town today and when I saw it I went inside to see what it was about."

Now, Urahara knew all about Love's Paradise, including its location. Even though it wasn't terribly far out of the way, it also wasn't exactly on the beaten path either. "You just happened to stumbled upon it?" he asked mildly.

Mikoto's gaze didn't waver from him, but the silence that followed said enough. "If it's not too much trouble, since its something I would like to try," she said. "Just once. I already have one picked out."

Urahara took a moment to think it over before he smiled again. "If that's really what my little girl wants then I'll allow it. Just this once though, so make sure to have fun."

"I will," she promised. "Thanks daddy."

* * *

Sunday morning, Temara once again left her home early. She wanted to get a bit of information gathered before it got too late so she could catch the beginning of Mikoto's requesting Shuuhei. It was sure to prove hilarious especially when the others saw her there. They'd never let him live it down.

Until then though, she'd keep tabs on the rest of the town and see if anything had changed. One of the first stops on her list, a convenience store where she could grab a bit of food for later, just in case.

She entered the store behind a small family and picked up a pack of rice balls. They'd last a few hours and be able to tide her over until dinner if need be.

When she went over to the counter, she recognized the two people working. One of them was her one and only friend, or as close to one as you could get when you lived her lifestyle, Hanataro. Even though it was against the rules for students to have a job outside of school, several students did it anyway for a variety of reasons.

Many of them just needed the money, for home, for school, or for drugs and alcohol. Hanataro came from a humble family which he was helping to support, which is why he worked even though it went against school policy. He had once told Temara he wanted to go to medical school, yet with all his wages going to support his family, chances of that were very slim. Yet he never complained, and bore it with a smile.

The other guy, whom she knew less personally, was a guy named Ganju. He and Hanataro worked most of their shifts together, so the two had become pals.

"Hey Hana," she greeted placing her food on the counter. "This is it for me today."

"Hey, Temara!" Hana exclaimed in excitement. "I didn't know you were coming in today. Are you sure you don't want anything else?"

"Naw, this is more for later anyway," she answered with a shrug. "So, how long is your shift for today?"

"9 hours," Hanataro answered with a sigh. "But that's okay. Ganju will be here for most of it."

"Well that's good," she replied with a smile. "At least you'll have someone to keep you company."

He nodded enthusiastically as he scanned the bar code on the package. "Yeah, and also… I managed to get another job. Today's my first day, so I'll be starting that after I get off shift from this one."

Temara's eyes widened. "Hana, I know you… er, enjoy working, but don't you think that's a bit much? When will you find time for school?" One job outside of school was one thing, but two? He would run himself into the ground before the month was over.

"Oh, no worries," he said with an optimistic smile as he rung her up. "I usually pick things up pretty quickly. I'm sure I can manage it somehow."

"Hana..." she wanted to say more, but she felt she didn't have the right to tell him not to go through with it. After all, she was doing her own work that could potentially ruin her chances at school if it was ever discovered. "Just don't push yourself too hard okay."

"Uh...I promise I won't," he replied after a moment of surprise. She'd never really expressed any sense of worry for him before and it made him feel really happy. "Thanks for worrying though."

"I'm not worried," she told him quickly as the slightest tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks. "It'd just be a shame to have to drop your dream because of something stupid like not having the energy for classes."

He released a soft, nervous laugh. "Right…" He finished bagging her item and took the money she offered over the counter. "Well, it was nice seeing you, Temara. Have a nice day, okay?"

She nodded. "You do the same." After offering him a parting wave she turned and exited the store with her snack. "Where to go first?" she wondered.

Such a large city, with so many people to spy on, and yet so very little time. Also, the city wasn't the same as school. Even with her aptitude of wandering or lurking around unseen, she still tread with caution. Her mind wandered to her unintentional discovery at school and she shuddered. Just forget it, she told herself over and over. They didn't see you, they don't know. You just have to pretend you don't either.

Perhaps, in some cases, ignorance truly was bliss.


	6. Buying a Man

**Chapter 6: Buying a Man**

Mikoto entered Love's Paradise, not really knowing what to expect. Temara had explained to her that it would be better if she waited until after dusk, when things got 'more interesting' as she called them. Her papa had opted to come with her to ensure she made it there safely, as well as to discuss something with the owner. She didn't mind really, as he did promise he would leave her to her own devices once her male had been purchased.

The inside was a lot dimmer than she remembered, with a more rose colored lighting, and there were various aromas of sweet and spiciness wafting through the air. Slow, steady music was playing in the background in a lulling melody. She didn't have too long to admiring everything as she was approached by a rather large man.

"You have business here?" he asked her.

"I would like to purchase Shuhei Hisagi for the evening, please," she stated with a smile.

The man eyed her for several moments. "Sorry, miss, but only those of age 18 or older are allowed in this late."

"Oh, I'm sure you can make an exception just this once," Urahara said, coming up beside her, his gaze barely visible through the shadow of his hat.

The man looked startled to see Urahara but quickly fixed his expression, though his voice betrayed his surprise. "Y-yes, sir," he said quickly stepping aside. "Right this way miss. He'll be with you in a few moments." He turned his attention back to Urahara. "Would you like me to alert the owner to your presence sir?"

"No don't bother, I'll simply surprise him," he replied with a wave of his hand. "I know how much he enjoys my surprises."

"So, where do I go?" Mikoto asked getting both of the men's attentions.

"Here, I'll show you," Urahara offered placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and leading her inside. As he passed the bouncer he whispered, "Don't worry. I'll return anything that goes missing."

The surprise on the bouncer's face only grew at this statement as hat wearing man led the young student inside towards one of the more plush looking booths. "Let someone know when you're finished and I'll come collect you. Until then have fun."

Mikoto nodded that she would and watched him leave before settling in. The table was elegant but simple in decoration, napkins folded neatly into flower shapes, glasses for wine sat upside down, flower petals were neatly scattered over the table surface, and a vase of flowers stood in the center. Mikoto picked up one of the flower petals and sniffed it, enjoying the subtle fragrance.

"Mikoto?"

The girl glanced up to see her schoolmate. He looked different from yesterday. His hair was a lot more wilder looking, and his dress attire consisted of black denim jeans, black, sleeveless leather vest, a black, silver studded choker, and matching wristbands. He would have looked like a total badass had it not been for the look of utter bewilderment on his face.

Mikoto smiled up at him. "Hello, Shuhei," she greeted pleasantly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice hushed as if afraid they'd be overheard.

"I bought you for the night," she said simply.

"W-what?" he exclaimed thoroughly confused. "They generally don't let anyone in this time of night unless you're 18 or older. How'd you get past the bouncers?"

"Daddy convinced them to let me in," she told him easily. "So...now that I've bought you, what do we do?"

Shuuhei slowly took the seat next to her, using the time in between to calm himself down and think of his answer. "Well, since you are the guest that's up to you," he told her after a moment. "You can order a drink, or some food, or we could simply sit back and chat. How long a time did you pay for?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "Daddy just told me to let him know when I was done. So I guess until I'm finished."

Shuuhei suppressed a groan at the thought. Not that he didn't enjoy her company or anything, but the thought of spending most of the time he'd normally have to gather more potential regulars was rather disappointing. How'd she even manage to get as much time as she wanted? Who was her adoptive father as far as this place was concerned?

"Do you want me to go?"

The question brought his immediate attention back to her abruptly and he found she was staring at him intently. He suddenly had the sensation of swallowing a large chunk of lead and having it settle uncomfortably into the pit of his stomach. She knew… she could sense his discontentment, and even though she didn't appear offended by it, he felt disgusted at himself for even feeling it. Regardless of who it was, he was a host, and it was his job to make the customer feel welcome and wanted. Yet here he was treating her like she was a bother. What kind of friend was he?

Shuhei shook his head and sat down beside her. "No, stay as long as you want." He reached over and placed his hand over her smaller one. "During that time, I'll take good care of you."

Mikoto blinked and smiled a little, nodding her head in response. "Okay."

* * *

It was better than she'd imagined. As Mikoto walked into the Host club, Temara grinned to herself from her place at the bar. She made no attempt to let the girl know she was there but something told her it wouldn't matter. The other girl had probably already spotted her. She was a little surprised to see that her adoptive father had taken her there and after showing her where to sit had made his way to Love's office. A part of her really wanted to follow, but after her last couple of fiascos she thought better of it.

What really made her night, was the look on the young host's face as he entered the room and spotted his old friend at his table. With how much he was sweating she was certain he was about to feint from shock. But she reasoned with herself that even for him that was a bit extreme. He was a lot of things, but weak hearted was not one of them.

She continued to watch the pair for a few minutes as he took his seat and they finally began to relax. She was sure that he'd finally realized the girl didn't want anything romantic out of it and was able to talk normally towards her again.

As tempted as she was to listen in, she decided to uphold her end of the bargain and respect their privacy. She'd had her entertainment for the night. Still… she was curious about the pair. They seemed to have a lot of history the way they acted around each other. Even Mikoto seemed less aloof, albeit just barely, around the dark haired 2nd year.

Out of the corner of her eye, Temara spotted a shock of red that managed to stand out even with the dim lighting. Renji… so he was working late too. And the shorty next to him was…

Temara's jaw dropped as she recognized the scrawny, meek little bean sprout wearing a trainee host outfit.

"This was the job he was talking about?" she thought in surprise. She'd never have guessed that not only would he have the guts to try, but would be accepted as a host. Then again, there were plenty of women that liked the bashful and meek guys. In that sense he fit in perfectly. For a moment she had let a small laugh escape pleased that at least if he needed time off for studies or extra money for his family, she was sure Love would accommodate him. He was good like that.

As she watched the two hosts of to the side, the thought of going over and either requesting them herself or at least telling Hana congratulations crossed her mind. She quickly squashed that idea and got to her feet heading for the door. As long as she was in high school her own personal desires had to be pushed to the side. That's what she'd decided long ago and she wasn't about to stop now. She still had two years to go and wouldn't allow herself to waver...no matter how much she wanted otherwise.

* * *

Of all the visitors he could have received that night, Love certainly wasn't expecting this one. When Kisuke Urahara cheerfully strolled through the doors of his office, he was out of his seat as if someone had just lit a burner under his ass.

"Boss…" He cleared his throat, recovering from his momentary surprise. "What's doing? You don't normally come around the place, least of all during work hours."

"Oh, I just happened to be in the neighborhood," he said blithely. He glanced around the office, taking in the décor. "I like what you've done with the place. You've spiced it up a lot since my last visit."

"Yeah, well, I had the time." Love didn't believe for a second this was just a casual visit. The boss never did anything without a deeper, and often times surreptitious, reason. "Now quit jerking my chain. Why'd you come all the way out here at this hour?"

"Well actually, my new daughter gave me the strangest request," he told him simply with a mild chuckle. "She wanted to buy a man." Love raised an eyebrow at this. He'd been told of course that his boss adopted a kid, but he'd never actually met her before. "And of all places, she requested to come here." Suddenly Love knew what he was there for and began to sweat a little. "Now, how could she have possibly discovered where this place was and what it does? And what could have possessed her to request a man?"

"I don't know, sir," Love stated firmly. "I haven't seen your kid. We don't allow anyone underage in here anyway...accept for employees."

"Do you think it possible one of your employees brought her in?"

"Not a chance," Love answered firmly. "Unless they wanted to risk getting fired or kicked out of school they wouldn't let anyone from school know they work."

Urahara touched the end of his closed fan to his stubble covered chin, looking rather meditative, while the other man stood silent. Unfortunately, he had a sneaking suspicion of another possibility. It was slim, but still all together possible. Still, unless he knew for sure he didn't feel comfortable outing her out at the moment. The info she brought him was more than a little helpful as well as valuable. It'd be a shame to lose that.

"Alright, in that case, if my daughter happens to ever wander into your establishment in future, I ask that you take special care of her," Urahara told him smilingly. "I'll cover any of the expenses."

"Please," Love said with a shake of his head. "If she's your daughter, then she's already as good as family. I'll gladly see that she's taken care of, no payment necessary."

"If you're sure," Urahara murmured turning around. "Also, if she does come through here again, keep an eye out for a couple other high school boys." He gave the man a quick description of the two people Shinji had told him were bothering Mikoto. When he was finished Love agreed to watch for them.

"So, since this has been cleared up, how has business been?" he asked turning the tone to one of both amusement and relaxed curiosity.

"Business is booming," Love said, settling down in one of the chairs only after Urahara himself had taken a seat. "We've managed to find ourselves some good men. Future potentials, even."

"You don't say…" the shop keeper smiled even more at that. "I'm glad to hear it. Tell me more…"

* * *

"And that's why I really want to be a police officer," Shuhei finished. He'd never told any of his other guests about his future plans or dreams, but this was Mikoto. He felt he could share just about anything with her. And he had just got done sharing a great deal.

"Your adoptive father sounds like a good man," she replied attentively. "I'm glad you were able to find a nice home."

"You too," Shuuhei replied with a smile. "The way you were when I left I was worried you'd be placed somewhere terrible." Mikoto looked in the other direction at this. "Sorry. I was glad when you said Urahara sensei adopted you. He may be odd but he seems like a good guy."

"Thanks," Mikoto murmured softly.

"You do look a lot happier now anyway," he added scratching the back of his head.

"You think so?" She glanced back up at him, and her eyes drifted to the right side of his face, where his scars lay cleverly concealed by his dark locks.

Looking at her, Shuhei had a distinct feeling of what she was recalling, and he turned his head just enough so they were no longer in clear view. "I'd like to think so. In any case, I'm happy we ran into each other again. I didn't miss the orphanage much but… I did miss you."

Mikoto nodded slowly, as though silently sharing in his sentiment.

"Excuse me… oh, sorry about that… whoa!"

Suddenly a plate of food flew through the air and landed on the table in front of the two friends. Shuuhei saw it coming and instinctively covered Mikoto just as it crashed onto it sending food flying all over the place. The host waited until it seemed as if everything had stopped falling before pulling away. He looked at Mikoto from mere inches away and blushed lightly but didn't jerk away.

"You okay?" he asked. She nodded in response and smiled at him.

"I'm so sorry. Are you two okay?" a nervous voice asked as a small boy with short dark hair asked as he started cleaning up the mess.

"Yeah, we're fine," Shuhei told him, sitting up and then helping Mikoto up as well. "Try to be more careful, alright, rookie?"

"Y-Yes, of course, senpai," the new kid said humbly. "My apologies." He hurriedly cleaned up the mess and was off again.

Mikoto glanced to Shuhei. "Well, it's getting late. I think I'm going to head home now."

Shuhei paused a moment. Was it that late already? He dug his hand in his pants pocket, looking for his watch he removed during work hours. However, his hands only found an empty pocket.

"I think you dropped this." Mikoto held up a dark wristwatch, her expression straight as a brand new pin.

"Thanks," Shuuhei murmured taking the watch back. He checked the time as he did so and saw that it was already almost midnight. "Wow, it really is late. Do you want to wait a little bit longer before you go? I get off in a bit and I'll walk you home."

"No that's okay," she told him with a smile. "Daddy is here and he'll take me home."

She slowly got to her feet and Shuuhei followed suit before signaling to one of the bouncers. "Could you let Mr. Urahara know that his daughter is ready to go?"

"Sure thing," the bouncer nodded before heading off towards the office door.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school then," he said leading her over toward the entrance where she would wait for her guardian to arrive. "Have a safe trip home okay."

"You too."

Once her father arrived, she gave Shuhei one final wave before leaving. Urahara turned to Shuhei and tipped his hat to him before disappearing out the door behind his daughter. The teen male wasn't sure what to make of that, but he supposed he should just be thankful her dad didn't seem to have any inclinations about hunting him down.

* * *

That night, Temara managed to make it home at a decent hour. She'd taken a quick walk around town to ease the emotions that had wanted to break loose at seeing Hanatarou and Renji as hosts. Once she was feeling normal again she went home, had some dinner and went to her room like normal before finishing up the last bit of homework she had to do and started on re-organizing her information.

The way she had it set up in her closet was one side dedicated to those in her school, the other side consisted only of everyone else in the town. They were constantly growing too, what with people constantly moving to and from the town. Occasionally she'd run into people who were only there on vacation or for work. Them she only managed to get a few minutes to a few hours worth on before they were gone.

A few hours later she put her info away and collapsed onto her bed in exhaustion. Her thoughts went back to the information and the bit she'd just added to Mikoto's and Shuuhei's profiles. Close friends...something she probably would have had, had things been different. Oh well, it's not like she needed any now. As she drifted off to sleep a single thought flitted across her mind. She hadn't had a tutoring session with Mikoto since Thursday, why didn't she show up after school on Friday. Oh well, she'd just ask her tomorrow.

Somehow this thought stayed with her all throughout the night and into the next morning. It woke her up earlier than normal and she somehow ended up at the school building a good 20 minutes before the first bell rang. Shrugging off the odd feeling that was rattling around in her head she used this extra time to make sure everything was set in her locker and to find Mikoto.

The young female didn't appear at the school until a good 10 minutes later, however, and she had to wait another five for Shinji to leave her alone at her locker. As soon as he was gone, Temara took the opportunity to find out what was what. She would have asked when they had their chat on Saturday, but it hadn't crossed her mind.

"Hey, Mikoto," she greeted calmly noting that most the other students were busy with one thing or another. "So, how was your first time buying a guy?"

"It was nice," the other answered.

It had been enjoyable to speak one-on-one with Shuhei. He'd shared with her a lot of things. How it was like growing up in the home of a man who was chief of the police department, how he'd taken up playing the guitar, how he wanted to maybe start a band one day. If that didn't work out, he could follow his adoptive parent's footsteps and become an officer of the law. Mikoto felt Shuhei would probably make a good cop. He'd always been fair and just and kind.

When asking her what she'd been doing over the years, she kept away from the details, telling him she'd get adopted, then things wouldn't work out so she would get sent back. She also explained how she first met Urahara but withheld the details of her stealing from his shop. Mikoto supposed she could have shared more, but avoiding details like that were probably for the better. She didn't want him to look at her with pity, or distaste.

Overall, she had found her alone time with Shuhei to be pleasant, even if it was undeserved by her. She was the last person who deserved his kindness.

Mikoto followed up her statement with, "Though other than the excessive decorating I didn't quite understand the novelty of it."

"Of course you wouldn't," Temara sighed shaking her head. At this point, Mikoto had finished getting what she needed from her locker and began walking down the hallway with Temara by her side. "So, just out of curiosity, where did you go on Friday?"

"What do you mean?" Mikoto replied glancing over at her.

"We were supposed to have a tutoring session after school and you never showed up. I waited outside like an idiot for over an hour."

"I'm sorry. After PE I felt ill and passed out. Hirako-san took me to the nurse's office until I woke up. Then he took me home," Mikoto explained apologetically.

"What'd you do to make yourself pass out?" Temara demanded in a soft voice. "You didn't look sick when I saw you after class."

"I guess I exhausted myself during P.E.," Mikoto replied with a shrug.

She really didn't feel like talking about her unexpected encounter with the 3rd year, Nnoitra. In fact, she'd just as soon not think about it. Or what had followed afterwards. Whenever she thought about that moment with Shinji, her insides stirred restlessly. She was better off just forgetting the whole thing happened.

Temara gave her a look, suggesting she didn't fully believe the excuse, but realized she wasn't going to get anything more and abandoned the subject all together. She heard the hallway suddenly go quiet and she glanced around. From the end of the corridor she saw a muscular 2nd year with wild blue hair and a ferocious expression of a predator stalking prey. And he was looking right at her, or at least she thought he was.

"Temara, who is that person?" There was no answer. Mikoto looked and saw the girl was no longer beside her. How queer….

In the time it took for her to notice that the other girl was gone, the blue haired punk had closed in on her and had her trapped against the nearest wall. The thought of "not again" flitted across her mind before she locked everything away and met him eye to eye.

"Heh, so you're Mikoto huh?" he laughed darkly amused by the straight face she was showing. "I hear you don't react to anything...let's see how far that stretches."

He lessened the gap between them and slammed a hand against the wall inches from her head. She didn't flinch or showed any sign that he'd startled her. He lowered his head towards her pausing inches away so she could feel his breath on her face. A low growl could be heard in his throat adding to the dangerous air about him.

"So you're a friend of Nnoitra's then?" She inquired mildly, in a pleasant tone which her father would have been so proud of.

She didn't fully understand why people were suddenly so interested in her ever since she came to this school. First the dark haired boy had started following her, then the 3rd year, Nnoitra had assaulted her, and now this. She supposed it didn't matter though. She wasn't about to show… oh right, she wasn't about to feel even a touch of fear, especially for one who demanded it.

"Heh, not fucking likely," he muttered. He smiled, but it wasn't anything closed to friendly. It did, however, carry a small hint of being impressed.

"I see… what about Ulquiorra?" she asked, as though they were conversing over sports. She was dimly aware of all the students in the hallway, froze, afraid to even twitch, as they watched to see what he would do to her. "I don't suppose you know why he's following me?"

"I don't give a shit," he replied harshly. The smile on his face grew as he noticed the people around them shivering in fear. "I'm gonna do what I want despite that gloomy bastard."

He slowly reached up towards her with one of his hands allowing his fingers to brush against her throat. Again she didn't flinch, he didn't see a single sign that the touch worried her.

He pulled his hand back after a moment, his grin faltering for a moment. She really wasn't reacting. He'd just threatened to choke her and she did nothing. He was beginning to see what Nnoitra meant and was feeling a sense of boredom set in. It was no fun when he didn't get any reactions out of his prey.

"What's the matter with you?" This was different than Ulquiorra's indifference. This also wasn't bravery in the face of danger. This was an absolute lacking of fear. And unlike Nnoitra he really didn't have much interest in getting in her pants just to see something happen.

"I'm not sure," she answered.

Grimmjow was beginning to form a few theories as to why the grim faced brat was following her around. Though he couldn't say he was considerably pleased by the theory. "So, you don't know why the brat's been watching you?"

She shook her head. "Nope, he wouldn't say." Then she smiled. "But I'm not worried. I'm watching him too."

He sighed and pulled away from her. He looked her up and down for a few moments before something caught his eye to his right. His eyes flicked in that direction and noticed Ulquiorra standing there with an expression that said back away.

"Tch, no fun at all," he muttered to himself sending a glare towards the man. He glanced back at the girl who was still looking at him with a blank expression and sighed again. She was really irritating him with that emotionless crap.

Just then he sensed something else. Movement just in his peripheral vision. He turned his head and noticed that someone was walking away. A female. She seemed familiar, but he wasn't sure why at first. He had no reason to remember anyone at this school. No one worth remembering. And then it hit him. That was the same back he saw running off during his conversation with Nnoitra. It was very possible she'd overheard them. If that was case… well, then he'd just have to do something about it.

Mikoto found herself following his gaze, and when she saw what his eyes had locked onto. She got a sudden flicker of what he'd been looking for seconds before. Fear But not for herself. As he began to move off her and towards the other girl, she impulsively grabbed his forearm, his muscles thick and hard beneath her fingers.

She could practically hear the collective breath of the whole hallway at her actions.

"Don't."

He paused at her touch and slowly turned this head to look at her. At first he simply glared at her as if he was daring her to do anything else. Then as he stared into her eyes he saw it. The smallest flicker of fear and worry. He'd made her react.

"No," he told her flat out as his wicked smirk returned to his face. Then he pulled his arm out of her grip and continued down the hallway after the retreating back. "Looks like I'll be able to get two birds with one stone," he thought continuing on his way. "I'm going to enjoy this more than I thought."

* * *

CM: If you could buy yourself a guy from Bleach, who would you choose? I know who I would. :P


	7. Deal WIth the Devil

**Chapter 7: Deal with the Devil**

She couldn't believe it. Just as she was about to find something out about Mikoto Grimmjow had to come walking down the hall, and towards them of all people. Before he got too close, she quickly slipped to the nearest corner to hide herself from his view. The last thing she wanted was to run into him right now.

She waited until his focus was completely on Mikoto and started slipping down the hallway as quickly as she could. She was sure the girl would be fine, after all she knew that he got bored with things that didn't do what he wanted, and there was no way Mikoto was going to react to him.

As soon as she was far enough away, she moved away from the wall and continued down the hall as if nothing had happened. Along the way she was sure she felt someone looking in her direction but ignored it. Even if he was looking at her she refused to turn around acknowledge that she'd noticed him.

Temara made it to her class and sat in her usual corner, sinking into obscurity. She began to get her books out as peopled trickled into the classroom. As she dug into her bag, she heard heavy footsteps approach her. She looked up, and then immediately paled. Grimmjow stood towering over her like a wolf who'd just come across a wounded animal.

"Yo," he said in greeting.

Her book almost slipped out of her hands and she caught it with fumbling fingers. This couldn't be happening. Why did he follow her? What interest could he possibly have in her. She was supposed to be unseen, invisible to all. But she surely wasn't now. Everyone who showed up to class early was staring at Grimmjow, and consequentially, at her.

She swallowed, trying to keep calm. "Can I help you?" she asked, trying to make her voice more than just a squeak.

His smirk grew as he caught the obvious fear in her voice and movements. "Yeah, you can," he answered easily as he reached down and threw her over his shoulder. "Let's go have a private conversation."

Despite her best efforts, Temara released a squeak of terror as she ended up on his shoulder. She would have pleaded for the others in the room to help her had she not known that they didn't know her and that her kidnapper was a very dangerous individual.

"P-put me down!" she exclaimed slamming a fist against his back and trying to kick out of his grip.

Grimmjow opted not to listen to her. Instead he headed over to the window and pulled it open. Temara had to suppress a scream, thinking he was going to toss her out of it. He didn't, but he did do something almost equal in terrifying experiences. He deftly leapt like a cat from the window sill onto a sturdy branch of the tree outside the window. Temara had the gut lurching feeling of momentary freefall followed by her gut impacting into his shoulder and she lost her wind.

"Still feel like struggling?" He laughed, holding her with one arm while maintaining his balance on the tree branch with the other.

She coughed from the sudden lack of air and he took that to mean yes. Once he was sure he had her secure on his shoulder and that she wasn't going to struggle any longer, he leapt from the tree to the ground and walked over to a remote corner of the school grounds. Here he unceremoniously dropped her to the ground where he loomed over her.

"Wh-what do you want?" she panted trying to get her breath back.

"First, what's your name?" he demanded firmly.

Temara didn't feel there was any reason for her to lie about her name considering there was no getting away from him until she did what he wanted. As long as she didn't reveal what she knew, she should be okay. "Temara," she answered nervously. "W-why do you want to know?"

"Easy," he answered pulling her to her feet and trapping her against the surrounding stone wall. "How much did you hear the other day between Nnoitra and me?"

Temara's gut churned in fear as her worst fears were suddenly confirmed. He had seen her outside that window, and somehow he remembered her, and somehow later recognized her. She swallowed down her fear, then repeated when it got stuck in her throat. "I don't know what you're talking about."

In response to this, his hand reached up and grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling her head back. She gave a small shout of pain, stifled off when she bit down on her lip to muffle the noise.

"Sure you don't," he drawled.

"I swear," she gasped, her body trembling under his. "I didn't hear anything. You're confusing me for someone else."

He pulled some more, making her hiss with pain that was enough to bring tears to her eyes. "You're a shitty liar."

"I, I," she stuttered holding onto the hand that was gripping her hair. "I'm sorry. I had no idea. I swear I won't say anything to anyone else."

Grimmjow smirked and slowly let go of her hair. "No you won't," he said firmly. "But you'll have to give me something to keep from losing something important to you."

Temara breathed heavily as she ran a hand through her hair trying to keep herself under control. "I-I don't, have anything."

"Sure you don't," he murmured gripping her chin and directing her face toward his. "With the way no one seems to know you're even there I'll bet you know just about everyone in this school by now." Her eyes widened at this and he knew he hit the nail on the head. "Thought so. So you're going to give me all the information you've got on everyone...starting with the staff of this place."

"Wha…?" She couldn't believe what he was asking. Give up all of her information to a crazed Yakuza member? "I can't do that."

"Sure you can," Grimmjow said with a smirk. He released her chin, giving her the illusion of reprieve for about two seconds before moving his hand to grip around her throat. He pushed her further against the wall, enough to make her gasp and struggle to get a proper breath. "You'll do it, and without complaint. You'll give me all the info you got, and you won't give it to anyone else. If you even think of trying to run or hide from me…" He leaned in closer and could practically smell the terror wafting off of her shivering body. "…I'll hunt you down, I'll find you, and then I'll rape you."

She gasped for air as her hands gripped at his trying to get him to release her. After a few moments he relaxed his grip enough for her to answer. "O-okay! Okay, I'll do it," she exclaimed hoping he'd let her go.

"Good," he murmured letting go of her throat and watching her slump against the wall. "I want you to bring me all the staff information tomorrow. If I find out you're holding out on me with anything, I'll have to start dealing out some punishment."

She panted and nodded her head in understanding. She couldn't wrap her mind around how on earth she'd managed to get herself into this mess, but a part of her hoped against hope that someone...anyone would save her.

Suddenly Grimmjow's attention shifted and he moved his head to avoid a rock from hitting his skull. It rebounded off the school building wall with a loud cracking noise, indicating the force behind its projector.

"Hey, you bastard!"

Temara looked up to see someone coming towards them, though she didn't need to after hearing the shout. Her heart filled with both hope and dread as she saw Renji marching in their direction. His attention was on Grimmjow, and he looked none too happy.

Grimmjow surveyed him as though he were starring at an ant. "The hell do you want?"

"I want you to back away from her," he answered gesturing to who he was referring to with his hand. "It's obvious even from back here she doesn't want to be there."

Temara was shivering now...and for good reason. The look on Grimmjow's face looked murderous and considering what he did for a living she was sure it wasn't just for show. She was about to come forward and tell Renji that she was fine and that he should just forget about it when Yakuza man beat her to it.

"If you want to keep your hair attached to your head I suggest you beat it," he declared with his evil smirk in place.

"Not a chance," Renji declared popping his knuckles. "I'm not just gonna leave a girl alone when she's in trouble."

"Tch, you're pathetically weak," Grimmjow laughed. "I'm gonna enjoy tearing you apart over a girl you don't even know."

Renji was the first to strike, rushing forward with a keen swiftness. He was the athletic sort, that much Temara knew. He was on the basketball team and also in the kendo club, where he was second best only to Ikkaku Madarame. He was also a runaway, living on his own. He was a fighter, and yet he was so righteous. He was willing to fight another male over a girl whom, as Grimmjow stated, he didn't even know. He had probably just heard someone mention Grimmjow taking a female student against their will. That was enough for him to come to her aid.

Temara felt like crying, because that amazing kindness was going to get him hurt badly, and she didn't want that to happen.

The red head took a few swift punches, and Grimmjow dodged, easily matching him blow for blow. At one point, the blue haired teen threw a hard punch which Renji blocked with both arms. While deflected, it had momentarily knocked the red head off balance. Grimmjow saw this and was quick to take advantage, bringing his knee up and catching Renji square in the diaphragm.

He gasped for air at the blow and dropped to his knees coughing while the blue haired man did a little jig in place. He was enjoying it. Glaring at the seemingly triumphant Grimmjow, Renji slowly tried to push himself back up, but the blow was bad enough where he could hardly move. Temara watched him go down and a hand flew involuntarily up to her mouth in shock. She was sure the blue haired man could do a lot worse and she hoped that Renji got the hint he couldn't win and just left.

Grimmjow wasn't about to give him enough time to decide either way though as he stepped towards the downed redhead. Before he could so much as lay another hand on him though, Temara seemed to have found a small bit of courage and moved towards the two shouting at them to stop. Just as she reached them, Grimmjow shoved her full in the chest with enough force to lift her off the ground and smack into the wall where she slid to the ground.

"Hey, that's not cool man," Renji muttered forcing himself to his feet. "You never hit a woman."

Grimmjow turned back to him and grinned. "Glad to see you ain't done yet," he laughed. "It would have been boring if you'd just given up that easily." Then his fist shot out catching the redhead's jaw before grabbing him by the front of his uniform. "But, if you really want me to leave her alone, just tell me her fucking name."

Renji bared his teeth and gripped the wrist of the hand holding his t-shirt. "Like I would tell you," he growled, trying to twist Grimmjow's hand to release him

The blue haired male merely laughed. "As I thought… you probably don't even know. If that's the case…" Grimmjow leaned forward and head butted Renji before dropping him. "…then just get out of my face."

Temara closed her eyes in a wince but opened them back up almost immediately. "Renji, just leave!" she shouted.

For the first time in years, Renji looked at her. He was tired, in pain, but his eyes still carried determination. There wasn't any recognition, just a small smile, a silent assurance that he was going to help her.

Temara grit her teeth shutting her eyes in the hope of ending the scene before her. Why did boys have to be so stupid? He didn't even know her, he couldn't remember her...why did it matter to him what Grimmjow did to her? She was happy he was at last looking at her, but not at this cost.

Grimmjow moved forward to deal a final blow to the panting redhead, but before he could do anything more a large meaty fist came out of nowhere and coldclocked him in the jaw. He reeled for a moment but quickly got his bearings back and glared at the offending party. It was Sado, he was now standing in front of Renji his eyes flicking back and forth from the blue haired man to Temara sitting against the wall on the ground. She saw his fists clench at his side in anger.

"Leave now," he ordered Grimmjow in a threatening tone. He didn't want to fight as he promised Temara he wouldn't, but if his sister's attacker refused to leave he wouldn't hold back.

Grimmjow looked between the two males, one of which was steadily pulling himself back up off the ground, and laughed manically. "You think this makes any difference?" he asked, readying himself for another round. "I'll tear you BOTH apart!"

Temara was back up on her feet in panic. She couldn't get Sado involved. Couldn't bear to see him get hurt. Just as she was about to rush forward again, another voice made itself known.

"What the hell is going on over here?!"

They all looked to see the female PE teacher, Yoruichi Shihoin, striding up to the group, a stern glare in her cat-like eyes. "If I wasn't mistaken, the class bell rang quite some time ago." She stopped just two yards short of them and placed her hands on her hips. "If that's the case then why are you all here when you should be in class?"

No one answered at first and she took in the scene before her. Grimmjow was standing at one end with his fists raised ready to go for a few rounds, a panicked Temara was standing near the wall panting slightly, and a clearly injured Renji stood surprised next to a ticked off looking Sado. Just from that it was clear what had happened. Grimmjow had been messing with another poor girl and the two boys had gone to help her themselves instead of getting a teacher's help.

"Forget it, you three get to class," she ordered pointing at Grimmjow, Sado and Temara. "Abarai, go to the nurse and get those taken care of. Then get back to class. I don't want to see this again."

The two boys nodded at her and went to Temara's side who was still in shock. Grimmjow on the other hand just glared at Youruichi for a time. Eventually, he shrugged and headed off in the opposite direction as the others. It didn't matter to him if he was stopped, he'd already gotten what he wanted after all. He was going to make sure she never forgot their little agreement.

Even though the crisis had been averted, Temara wasn't at all comforted. She knew that a mere scolding by a teacher wasn't going to stop Grimmjow. One way or another, he would corner her again. She felt sick and shaky and nearly collapsed onto the ground. Thankfully, her brother was there to steady her. All it took was just a touch of his warm hand to stabilize her. She waited a few moments before gently brushing his hand off.

"I'm fine," she murmured. She reached up, touching the back of her head where it'd hit the wall. She flinched at the twinge it caused and as she pulled her hand away there was a small smear of blood on her fingers.

"Come on, you both need to go to the nurse," Sado declared to her and Renji.

Temara wasn't sure she really wanted to spend time around Renji after what happened, but she silently nodded and followed the pair. As they walked, Renji glanced over at her. "Hey, you okay? He didn't… do anything to you, did he?"

To give herself time to answer she ran a hand through the front of her hair, moving it momentarily out of her face. "Other than the shove you saw during the fight, no," she answered keeping her voice from wavering.

Sado frowned at this. He could tell that she was hiding something and knowing that she was keeping something from him was irritating.

"Well, I'm glad we were able to help make sure nothing else happened," Renji expressed keeping a hold of his injured gut. It was going to be difficult working with that injury. "By the way, your eyes are pretty amazing. Are you new or something? I'm pretty sure I would've noticed eyes like that."

Temara stiffened before letting her hair fall back into place. "Whatever…"

Renji was a little perplexed at getting blown off, but he figured she was still shaken up and just didn't feel like talking at the moment. When they got to the nurse's office, Temara went in first. Before following her in, Renji turned to Sado.

"So… IS she new?" he asked the other male.

Sado slowly shook his head. "No…" he looked as though he might say more, but then just turned and walked away. "Thanks for helping her."

Renji was surprised by this and was about to stop the larger man from leaving without some sort of explanation but thought better of it. He then went inside to see that she was already being attended to by the kind gentle nurse. When she'd finished cleaning the head wound, she went to collect some bandages leaving the pair alone.

"So, what's your name?" he asked casually moving to sit on the bed across from her.

"Doesn't matter," she muttered staring at the ground. This really wasn't the way she imagined him finally noticing her. She imagined something a lot less life threatening with a horse drawn carriage. Impossible she knew, but she still hoped for something better than this at least.

When Unohana came back she gingerly wrapped Temara's head before declaring herself finished. "The cut wasn't too deep, so you won't need stitches, and there was no cranial damage," she informed with a smile. "Just try not to 'fall' into anymore walls, alright, Miss Yasutora?"

Temara flushed profusely but nodded. "Can I go now?"

"Of course," she said handing the girl a slip of paper. "Here's a pass. Enjoy the rest of your day."

Renji watched her leave without giving him so much of a glance or goodbye. Yasutora… why did that sound so familiar?

* * *

Mikoto stood on the rooftop, pressed up against the fence that bordered the edges in order to keep students from falling off. Her fingers gripped between the fence links as she looked out over the school grounds. No sign of her… It was lunch time, and she'd been waiting for several minutes now for Temara to show so they could have their tutoring session. So far though, the wallflower girl was a no show.

Mikoto sighed, thinking about how Temara showed up to class late with a head bandage on. All she'd been able to do was alert a couple of her male classmates to what was going on. She hadn't been able to prevent her from getting hurt. She wondered if she might have been the cause of Temara's injury. It's because she'd let herself slip. Even if it was only for a moment, she'd shown emotion.

"This is a rare occurrence," a voice murmured from directly behind her. She hadn't even heard anyone enter the roof area. "What could possibly make you make such a face?"

"What face?" she asked casually. As soon as he spoke, her face went deadpan and any emotion on it had disappeared. At her question, he placed a hand on the fence in front of her and although he never touched her, she could feel him inches from her.

"You were looking worried about something," he told her with a small chuckle. "Is it anything I can help with?"

"I'm not worried," she insisted.

To prove as much, she allowed her fingers to slip out of the links they'd been curled around and slowly turned around to face him. He was quite close, almost as close as Nnoitra and Grimmjow had been when the two had cornered her. Yet with this man, she didn't feel cornered. His aura wasn't predatorial or threatening, rather it was playful and inquisitive.

"What are you doing up here, Ichimaru-sensei?" she asked mildly.

"When I have the time, I enjoy coming here for the view." He didn't move away as he spoke, but rather kept his hand rested against the chain link. Keeping her half trapped, giving her the option of escape.

Mikoto nodded in understanding. "It is nice…" she murmured, turning her head to gaze over the grounds once more.

"So why are you up here little Koto?" he asked curiously.

"I'm waiting for Temara-chan," she answered truthfully. "We're supposed to have our tutoring session today up here."

"I see," he murmured thoughtfully. "And where is little Mara?"

Mikoto paused as she continued to look out over the schoolyard. "She hasn't come yet," she murmured showing nothing.

"Hmm, you don't suppose it has anything to do with that accident she had earlier today right?" he asked seemingly innocently. "I heard from Unohana-san that she ran right into a wall. Surprising since she's usually so observant."

"Yeah… it might be that," she acknowledged with a nod. It was highly probable that after everything that happened that morning, she didn't want to have to deal with Mikoto on top of it all. "Maybe she just got tired of me." The tone wasn't self pitying, but matter of fact.

"Now whatever could you mean?" the silver haired teacher asked, his face taking on a look of confusion before smiling again. "I can't imagine how anyone could get tired of you."

"It's not that hard," she said, looking back at him. "You will too, eventually." That's how it always worked. Her teachers, her friends and acquaintances, her new family, they would all get sick of her sooner or later. And when that time came, she would be alone again.

"You don't say…" He leaned in closer to her, his eyes opening just a sliver. "And suppose I were to prove you wrong?"

Mikoto didn't say anything. She was too busy staring at his irises. It was very rare you saw eyes that were such an attractive shade of pale blue. And it was so rare she got to see them, it was sort of an odd treat.

"I'm not sure," she answered truthfully. "I don't think it's really possible though."

"Oh really, then why don't we just wait and see," Gin murmured before closing his eyes again. "Well, I have to return to my classroom now and prepare for our next lesson. It'll be fun so try not to be late now."

Mikoto nodded obligingly and he pulled away. He turned and left just as another person entered the rooftop area. Shuhei paused, curiously watching the English teacher walk by. When he disappeared into the building, the male teen approached Mikoto with a slightly concerned expression.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

Mikoto nodded, slipping on a smile. "Yes, Ichimaru-sensei was just enjoying the view with me." She cocked her head to the side a little. "Did you need something? I didn't think you usually came up here. You hate heights after all."

"That's… I got over that I long time ago," Shuhei stuttered, his cheeks tinting slightly pink. "Anyway… I know this is a strange request but, I was wondering if perhaps you might… like to come over to my place for a bit after school?"

"Your place?" This was rather unexpected, thought Mikoto.

"Yeah, I was wanting to show you something," he answered rubbing the back of his head. "So, how about it?"

"Um...sure," she replied with a smile. "I'll have to let Urahara-san know first though."

"Okay, so how about we meet out front when school lets out?" he asked as he began to relax and smiled.

"Sure, I'll see you then."

* * *

CM: Looks like things are looking up for Mikoto. Her English teacher is showing her that she matters and her old friend is trying to get closer to her. Maybe she isn't as unlikeable as she thought.

Shipponaut: Too bad Temara isn't having as much luck as Grimmjow is taking a very close interest in her. Can she manage to stay on his good side without giving him too much information or will her first year of High School turn into a living nightmare? Keep reading to find out.


	8. Extra Credit

**Chapter 8: Extra Credit**

Before the end of lunch, Mikoto made sure to let her father know where she was going after school. He seemed perfectly fine with the idea, on the condition she was home at a decent hour. Mikoto later understood why Ichimaru-sensei had said class would be fun. They got to make an illustration of their most recent reading. Not only that, but when he handed papers back, the grade she got was higher than normal. She didn't see Temara at all for the rest of the day, and of course no one else seemed to notice. Maybe she'd gone home early….

After her last class, she waited at the front of the school for Shuhei while brushing out her long hair. "Hey, oddball," Shinji greeted walking up to her with his usual toothy smile.

"Hello, Hirako-san," she greeted with a smile of her own. "You won't have to walk me home today. I'm going with Shuhei to his house."

"What's this? Don't tell me you're replacing me with some other guy," he said giving her cheek a playful pinch.

The corners of her mouth lifted a little more in response, but the change was fleeting. "No, it's just for today." She started on the back of her hair which was the hardest part considering the length and made her arm ache.

"Hehe, let me help with that," he offered taking the brush from her hand without letting her answer. He then began lightly pulling it through her hair. "Well, I may not be walking you home this time, but I'll stick around till your friend gets here."

"Dad asked you to didn't he," she guessed in an almost teasing voice.

"Hehe, you're pretty sharp," he laughed not even bothering to hide it. "Yeah he did, but I would have anyway."

"Why is that?" she asked curiously.

"Well, for one thing, you've been pretty good at attracting unsavory characters thus far," he said jokingly. "And because I want to. Simple as that."

Mikoto didn't think he was lying; Shinji was a rather direct person that way. Somehow, that knowledge pleased her. She just wondered how long it would last. She decided not to think about it, it was making her feel oddly uncomfortable.

"I remember when my hair used to be this long," Shinji commented.

This got her interest. "You had long hair?" She tried to picture it, and she almost laughed at the image. She held it back though.

"Yep, my hair used to stretch all the way to my ankles. It got in the way an awful lot though," he answered with a laugh. He continued to slide the brush through her hair finding it increasingly easier.

"What happened to it?"

"An old friend caught the bottom of it on fire," he told her with a shrug. "I had to cut it off to keep from getting burned myself."

A breath escaped her that sounded close to the start of a chuckle. "You should show me a picture some time."

"Maybe someday," he answered vaguely with a smile.

Shinji wouldn't lie, he found these subtle displays of emotion on her part rewarding. After all, she couldn't go on hiding in her little shell forever. He also didn't' mind brushing out her hair, which was quite lovely. Soft and silky, a texture you wanted to run your fingers through over and over, which was why he tended to favor girls with pin straight hair like hers.

But of course, she was off limits. "All done," he announced suddenly. "I'm not that good with braids, so you'll hafta do that bit yourself."

"Thank you," Mikoto said with a smile as she began twisting her hair into the pigtails she so often wore.

"So, who is this Shuuhei guy you're meeting with anyway?" he asked curiously as they watched the other students pass by on their way home.

"An old friend from the orphanage," she explained simply. "In some ways you could call him my first brother."

"That close? Huh, can't wait to meet him." He couldn't help but wonder what sort of guy she considered to be family. He must have something special about himself or something like that.

He didn't have to wait too long as shortly afterward the tall dark haired boy stopped in front of them. "Hey Mikoto, sorry it took so long, My teacher kept me after for something stupid," he greeted with his soft nervous smile. As he greeted her, his eyes landed on Shinji who was standing next to her still holding her brush. "Uh...who's your friend?"

"Shinji Hirako," the blonde introduced himself, reaching out his hand for a shake. Shuhei tentatively reached out and took it. "Nice ta meetcha. I hope you're plannin' on takin' awful good care of this one. She has a knack for attracting trouble."

"I… uh, yes, I intend to," Shuhei said gruffly before clearing his throat and letting go of Shinji's hand. He turned to Mikoto. "Ready to go?"

She smiled and nodded in answer. Then she waved goodbye to Shinji before following the dark haired male off the school grounds.

Shinji sighed and rubbed at his eyes. It would be nice if his job could be over for the day, but alas… he still had to follow her, until she was safe and sound at home. She just couldn't be aware of it. What a pain…

The pair traveled down the streets mostly in silence with the occasional comment from Shuhei about something they happened to be passing. After a time they finally reached his place where he let her inside. It was a fairly small house, with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room and a fairly large kitchen. "So, what do you think?" he asked as they stepped inside.

"It's nice," she replied with a smile. "It's cozy."

"Heh, yeah, it's just me and my adoptive dad around," he told her nervously.

There was a bark from one of the bedrooms followed by an older man's voice calling out. "Shuhei, is that you?"

"Yeah, dad, it's me," Shuhei called back, "and I brought a friend, the one I was telling you about."

Moments later a man with dark skin came out to greet them, holding a golden lab by a harness. He wore sunglasses and had dark hair braided in multiple cornrows and pulled back into a ponytail. Much to Mikoto's disappointment, he wasn't wearing his police uniform, or his weapons.

"Mikoto," Shuhei said, gesturing to the man. "This is my dad. Father, this is my friend, Mikoto."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," the father said, stretching his hand out. "Shuhei has told me much about you."

Mikoto took the hand and shook it, then asked forwardly, "Are you blind?"

Shuhei cringed at her question and began to sweat a little. "Mikoto...you really shouldn't..." he began.

"It's fine," the older man murmured raising a hand. "Yes I am. I have been for nearly ten years now."

"And you're still allowed to work as a police officer?" she asked in what may have passed as amazement.

He smiled a little. "That's correct. I must say, I'm rather impressed. You're the first person who has ever been so direct about it. It gets rather tiresome when people are always walking on eggshells over my lack of sight."

"I don't see why, it's not as though it makes you any less of a person," Mikoto said candidly. If nothing else, he was all the more extraordinary because of it. Overcoming his blindness and becoming an enforcer of the law. Shuhei truly had found himself a good role model.

"You are quite right," he replied with a smile. He turned to Shuhei keeping a tight hold of the dog. "I have a bit of paperwork I need to finish so I'll be busy. Feel free to stay as long as you like, Miss Mikoto."

With that he turned and returned to his room following behind the large dog. "So, uh, yeah that's my dad," Shuhei told her with a grin. "Anyway, the thing I wanted to show you is in my room. This way."

He led her passed the living room and into the last room of the house. It was a good size with a twin bed in the center, a small dresser up against one of the walls, an overflowing closet and posters of various music and sports groups covering the walls.

Shuhei went over to where a bass guitar was settled neatly on a stand. The black and purple paint gleamed brightly, suggesting it was either brand new or very well taken care of. He had mentioned he'd taken up the guitar recently.

"Is that the guitar you were telling me about?" she asked.

He nodded, brushing the wood of the neck lightly with his finger. "Yeah, this is my treasure. I named it Kazeshini. Kinda dumb I know but…."

"No, lots of people name inanimate objects," she assured him. "It's not strange or uncommon."

"Heh, thanks," he told her picking it up and sitting down on his bed. "Did you want to hear something?"

"Sure," she murmured from where she stood.

"Uh...you can sit on the bed too if you want to," he told her motioning towards the edge of the bed next to him. He didn't want to make her stand the whole time.

Mikoto nodded and settled herself onto the mattress. It was a nice bed, neatly made with a black sheet and comforter, and it was very comfortable to sit on. Once she got comfortable, she waited for him to begin his playing.

He picked at the strings for a moment, making sure the instrument was properly tuned. "So… this is something I've been working on recently. Let me know what you think."

Shuhei began playing a melody, picking the strings with his calloused fingers, and Mikoto quietly listened. It was a nice melody, not exactly what you would call a happy one, but nice. As he played, she watched his fingers, and then after a while her gaze drifted up to his face. And then to his scars.

She'd never admit it, but it still bothered her. All because of her he'd ended up with those terrible scars. Why wasn't he mad at her?

After a few moments she noticed that the music had stopped. She met his eyes and saw that he looked really concerned about something.

"Mikoto...are you still beating yourself up over these?" he asked pointing at his face.

She glanced away from him then, her face revealing nothing. "It was my fault you ended up like that." It had been a long time since she'd allowed herself to feel remorse over it, but she never let herself forget it. Not once.

Mikoto heard him move, felt the bed shift, and then felt a warm, large hand rest over her shoulder. "I never blamed you for it, not once," he told her firmly. "And I still don't. So you shouldn't either."

Mikoto looked up at him with clear eyes. "You're a very kind person, Shuhei."

His expression looked strained, as though he honestly didn't believe that himself. The expression in his eye appeared almost… tortured. Like he was fighting something. The grip on her shoulder tightened just a margin, before suddenly releasing.

"So, did you want to get something to eat before I take you home?" he asked getting up from the bed and putting the guitar away. It was clear he was trying to steer the topic to something that'd help eliminate the last one.

"Yes," she answered also getting to her feet. "What's for dinner?"

"Why don't we go find something," he suggested putting an arm around her shoulder and leading her out of the room. He'd wanted the night to go better than this, but unfortunately that topic had come up. He knew there was no convincing her that it was okay, but he still wanted to try. Fat lot of good that did.

"Can we have Mochi?" she asked him as they left his room.

That made him smile a little. Their favorite treat as kids. "I'll see if we have some."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the back room, Shuhei's father sat at his desk, speaking on the phone in hushed tones. "Yes, that's right. I thought you might be interested. Yes, sir, I will. Thank you."

He hung up the phone and pondered for a few moments on the girl his son had just brought in. Ever since he'd lost his eyesight, Kaname Tousen had to compensate for it with his hearing.

As such, he'd learned how to know people just by hearing them speak. Their inflections, pauses, tones, and breath… in most cases, he only needed to hear a single sentence spoken to understand what sort of person was speaking. And he most certainly could catch just about anyone in a lie.

Her, however, he could read nothing from. No inflections in her voice or anything of the sort. There was only ever two other people he'd ever had issues reading. His boss and the second in command. Both were experts at keeping their true emotions and thoughts in complete secrecy. He got the feeling, this child had somehow managed to do the same. At her age it should be impossible but there it was. Now, he'd just sit back and sort of observe what became of her while awaiting the order that would eventually come.

* * *

As soon as school ended Temara slipped out of the nurse's office and made her way home as quickly as possible. After her little encounter with Grimmjow she didn't feel like moving around much. So she waited until Renji left the office before stepping inside and asking if she could just relax for a bit. After the first few minutes the nurse seemed to have forgotten she was there.

Now that school was over though, she couldn't hang around any longer so she snuck out of the building and quickly made her way down the street towards her house. If she could manage it without being spotted by that psychopath she'd be home free...at least until the next day.

When she got home, she called out that she'd arrived out of habit. Then she headed for the stairs to get to her room. Before she could go very far though Sado stepped in front of it and stared her down.

"What happened today?" he demanded firmly.

Temara shook her head. "It was nothing."

"Don't lie to me," Sado said. His voice wasn't loud, but it was unyielding. "I don't consider you getting attacked 'nothing'."

"He didn't attack me," she said insistently. "He was just… he just wanted to talk."

"About what?" Sado said, not buying into it. He knew of Grimmjow; he and Ichigo had already gone head to head on a few occasions. From what he'd witnessed and heard, Grimmjow was the sort who thrived on terror and violence. Guys like him didn't ever want to just 'talk'. Not just that, but he'd been told by one of her classmates that the guy had burst in and took her, undoubtedly by force.

Temara frowned and folded her arms across her chest. "That's none of your business." She hated saying it, but there was no other way. Her brother was a good fighter, but after seeing what Grimmjow could do first hand, she didn't want Sado or Renji anywhere near that monster.

"Temara, he made you go to the nurse's office just by pushing you hard enough," Sado reminded her. "And I could feel your fear. Did you forget you can't hide the way you feel from me?"

"No I didn't," she told him honestly. "Yeah I was scared, but that's because he jumped out a freakin' window with me on his shoulder. I don't care who you are that's terrifying," she blurted out in irritation. "Look the guy is scary and all but it's nothing I can't handle. The last thing I need is to have you start fighting again, so just don't."

"Temara…" he began.

"No, Sado," she said cutting him off abruptly. "I told you before I can take care of myself. I don't need you drawing any more attention to me, got it?" It was bad enough this crazy psycho had alerted her entire class to her presence. She could only hope she'd be able to sink back into the shadows of obscurity come tomorrow.

"I will if it means keeping you safe," he declared, his voice burdened with brotherly affection he was rarely ever able to show to her.

Temara resisted the urge to hug him and cry for a bit like she used to. He was always so much larger than her that she always felt he was a shield. She couldn't allow herself to fall to that though, this time she needed to be the shield.

"Thanks, Sado. I knew you'd understand," she murmured softly. "I'll try not to make you worried about me anymore. Besides I'm sure he won't even remember I exist by tomorrow anyway."

With that she gave him a quick reassuring hug before making her way up to her room. As he watched her head up the stairs he seriously hoped she was right. If not, he was sure being noticed by the others would be the last thing she'd be worried about.

* * *

The night before had ended on a pleasant note for Mikoto and Shuhei. After eating, he had escorted her home. The neighborhood he lived in wasn't terribly far from hers, so they hadn't needed to take a bus or anything. Urahara did lightly scold her for arriving home a few minutes past dark, though. He seemed to like Shuhei well enough. Mikoto was also pleased that when Urahara had her empty her pockets and stomach, that only one of the items had come from Shuhei's house.

The next morning, Mikoto walked through the halls of school towards her first period class, staring at her report card she'd received the day before but had yet to give to her father to sign. Her grades weren't looking too good. Even with the tutoring, she was doing poorly in three of her required classes. She realized the importance of getting good grades, and it wasn't as though she was dumb or lazy. She knew that wasn't it. It was just so hard focusing on any of those subjects. One thing was for sure, she needed to find a way to get her grades up.

As she headed down the school hallways towards her first hour, she was stopped by a smooth and amused voice. "Little Koto, just the student I was looking for." Mikoto turned to see Ichimaru Gin standing in the doorway of the teacher's lounge that she hadn't even realized she'd been walking by. "Have you gotten your report card yet?"

She nodded silently, curious as to what he wanted. He was a strange one and always seemed to want to talk to her for some reason. Plus after the conversation they had at lunch the day before she had to wonder if he just wanted to get her to react like the other men who'd had an interest in her lately.

"How are your grades in your other classes," he asked her. She didn't answer. "Well, I know you're still not doing very well in mine so I have a proposition for you. I will award you extra credit to raise your grade if you are willing to do so."

Her insides perked up at this but she immediately squashed down her excitement. Best not to get ahead of herself when she didn't even know what the requirements were. "What is it?" she asked him.

"Well, you see," the silver haired teacher said, his hand slipping into the pockets of his dark suit. "I find myself struggling in keeping up with all the papers and assignments that come my way. It would make things so much easier on me if I had someone to assist me."

"Like an aid?" Mikoto supplemented. She knew that some of the teachers had them.

He nodded. "Precisely."

"What would I have to do?" She wasn't sure if someone doing poorly in his class should be grading papers.

"Oh, just little things," he said airily with a wave of his hand. "Checking bell work, some sorting and filing, entering grades. I'll show you how to do all this of course. So does that sound agreeable to you?"

Mikoto thought about it for a moment remembering just how low her grade was despite Temara's help. Then she nodded slowly and smiled. "I think I'd like that," she told him formally. "I look forward to working with you." She added in her mind that she was excited about raising her grade but thought it'd be rude to mention it.

"Fantastic, then I'll see you after your final class of the day to get started," he said with a light nod. "Enjoy the rest of your day, Little Koto."

Mikoto nodded, giving him a parting bow before continuing on her way to class. She once more had to squash down the bubbling happiness she was starting to feel. Had she let it go, she might have started skipping down the hall.

* * *

Temara didn't sleep much that night as she kept picturing an amused blue haired man forcing himself onto her and then beating the crap out of her brother and Renji. No matter how much she told herself she could keep him from doing either, the fear still remained.

That morning she waited until Sado was gone before going downstairs. She didn't want him to see how badly she was still shaken up. With him gone, she quickly loaded the information on the staff and grabbed herself some breakfast before hurrying off to school. She severely hoped her prediction was right and that he wouldn't remember her, but something told her he wouldn't be forgetting her.

She found out just how right she was when she reached the school grounds and was dragged off to a secluded area before she could even step foot inside.

"Did you bring what I asked?" he said, getting straight to the point. Temara fumbled around in her bag until she brought out the files of every person who worked at the school. The information she had on most of them wasn't as in depth when compared to that of students. But that's just because it was harder to eavesdrop on teachers. Still, people talked, and stories got around. She was certain if she wanted to she could black mail at least five of the teachers at that school. Grimmjow took them, not even bothering to check them at that moment. "Good girl," he said, as if he was praising a dog.

"Can I go now?" She just wanted to hurry up and get this over with.

"What's the hurry?" He asked grinning in a non-friendly manner. "You don't like spending time with me?" Boy was THAT a loaded question.

She decided being direct may be the best method. Better than making him think she did enjoy it. "No, frankly I don't," she said as firmly as she could manage. "You're forcing me to hand over delicate information on people in this school. I could get expelled for this as it is. Plus you hurt people who were just trying to help me and you threatened to rape me. So of course not!"

She couldn't believe he'd even ask that. She knew he was odd, full of himself, and completely into messing with people, but it never crossed her mind that he'd asked something that the answer to was so obvious.

He just smirked in answer, totally unsympathetic to all the concerns and problems he was causing for her. He was GLAD he was causing her so much trouble, ecstatic that he was causing her to feel all these negative emotions; anger, guilt, and above all, fear, both for herself and the people who might get in his way trying to protect her. Grimmjow leaned closer to her, until she was flattened against the wall in attempt to shy away from him.

"Well, get used to it," he said with a snicker. "Because I'm not going anywhere, and you can't hide from me. And no one can save you."

"Try me," she muttered to herself. Unfortunately she didn't say it soft enough as he'd heard it.

"Oh, believe me, I will." His promise was whispered into her ear and a shiver raced down her spine, which she futilely tried to keep him from noticing.

"S-so is there anything else you wanted?" she asked, her voice cracking despite her best efforts.

"Tomorrow, you'll get me all the third year's info," he told her smirk still in place. "And if you get me enough, I may be willing to give you a reward for being such a good girl."

Temara was almost positive she didn't want his kind of reward. She came close to saying as much, but bit her tongue at the last second. Figuring it was best just to keep her opinions to herself, she just nodded silently and waited for him to move off her. He had to only have lingered there for, a minute or so longer at most, but it felt like hours to her under that predatory stare of his. It made her feel like he was about to eat her alive. At last he moved away, and she was allowed to breathe again.

"Don't forget," Grimmjow told her. Then he turned and left.

* * *

CM: Real quick I'd like to say that I'm sorry the updates have been coming so slowly. Life's a bitch.

Shippoman: Yeah it really is. Anyway, so Temara continues to stay under Grimmjow's thumb. With him being a part of the Yakuza is there any chance she will get free? And Mikoto's become Gin's student aid, what juicy scenes will arise from this? Stay tuned to find out.


End file.
